






■1 




-•'*■■ 



1774- l8 74- 

CENTENNIAL 

CELEBRATION, 



Dedication of Town Hall, 



ORONO, MAINE, 



March 3, 1874. 



Forsan et hcec olim meminissc juvabit. 



PORTLAND : 

BAILEY & NOYKS 

1874. 







PRESS OF B. THURSTON & CO., PORTLAND. 



1774. 1874. 



Dear Sir: 

It is proposed to celebrate the building of the new 
Town Hall (just completed) by exercises appropriate to the occa- 
sion, as well as to the celebration of the one hundredth anniversary 
of the settlement of the town, which occurs the present year. 

These exercises are to consist in part of an Address by ex-Gov- 
ernor Washburn, a former resident, and a Poem and Song by Eev. 
Henry C. Leonard, also a former resident, and are to take place in 
the Hall, Tuesday Evening, March 3, 1871, at 7 1-2 o'clock. 

You are cordially invited to be present. 

A. G. RLtfG, 

EBEN WEBSTER, 

JAMES WEBSTER, > Com. 

RICHARD LORD, 

CHARLES H. COLBURX. 

Oroxo, Eeb. 23, 1874. 



Oxdegp of; Efereroise©- 

MUSIC BY BANGOR CORNET BAND. 

Fantasia— Recollections of the Opera E. Beyer. 

Selections from Benedict's Opera— The Lily of Killarney. 

Hot Codlins— Serio Comic Fantasia E. Beyer. 

Cornet Solo— Anna Polka /. Legend re. 

INVOCATION. 
Remarks of Welcome by the Committee. 
Organization of the Meeting. 

MUSIC. 

Potpourri from Martha — From V. Flotow. .Arr. by Heinicke. 

Centennial and Dedicatory Address, 

by Hon. Israel Washburn, jr. 

MUSIC. 

Waltz— On the beautiful blue Danube Strauss. 

Original Poem, written for the occasion, by Rev. II. C. Leonard, 
entitled " Birthday Celebration." 

Ode of Dedication, by Mrs. B. II. Mace. 

MUSIC. 

Selections from II Piratee Bellini. 

REMARKS. 

MUSIC. 

Yankee Musical Joker— Serio Comic Fantasia, .by Ringleben. 
Song, " The Old Chiefs," by Rev. II. C Leonard. 



1774. ORONO. 1874. 



CELEBRATION AND DEDICATION. 

The following notice of the celebration of the one 
hundredth anniversary of the settlement of this 
town, and of the dedication of the Town Hall erected 
therein, is taken, substantially, from the Bangor 
Daily Whig mid Courier of March 4, 1ST4. 

This being the one hundredth year since the set- 
tlement of Orono, the citizens determined to cele- 
brate the event by fitting exercises ; and their new 
Town Hall having been completed, the occasion of 
its dedication was seized upon as the most appropri- 
ate time for the Centennial Celebration. 

The matter was left in the hands of an efficient 
committee; a great number of invitations were issued; 
Hon. Israel Washburn, jr. (a citizen of the town from 
1834 to 1864), was engaged to deliver an address, 
Rev. H. C. Leonard, pastor of the Universalist church 
in Orono from 1847 to 1855, was requested to write 
an original poem, and other arrangements were per- 



O ORONO CENTENNIAL. 

fected ; and last night an immense throng gathered 
in the hall, to attend the celebration. 

Before speaking further of the exercises, however, 
it is well to give our readers an idea of the edifice in 
which they took place, and we therefore append th 
following 

HISTORY AND DESCRIPTION OF THE BUILDING. 

For a long time past it has been apparent to the 
citizens of Orono that a town hall was needed in thai 
flourishing burgh, and within a few years various 
propositions have been considered looking toward its 
erection ; but it was not until the March meeting one 
year ago that the matter took definite form, and 
then, after due deliberation, it was fully decided to 
build a commodious hall for town and other purposes, 
and in the same edifice to have offices for the accom- 
modation of town officials and officers of the fire 
department, a room for the fire engines, etc. A 
committee was chosen, and to its members the matter 
was given in charge, they being invested with full 
powers to act in behalf of the town. The building 
committee consisted of Messrs. A. G. King, Eben 
Webster, James Webster, Richard Lord, and Charles 
II. Colburn. 

G. W. Orlf, Esq., of Bangor, was appointed archi 
tect, and submitted plans which were adopted by the 




TOWN IIALI,, 



ORONO CENTENNIAL. 

building committee. Tenders for building were in- 
vited and contracts finally made with Mr. David 
McMillan, of Orono, for the entire mason-work, and 
with Messrs. C. B. Brown, of Bangor, and D. Chase, 
of Upper Stillwater, for the wood-work, each party 
to furnish the necessary materials. 

With commendable promptness work was begun 
on the foundations early in July, and rapidly pushed 
forward. Work on the superstructure was com- 
menced as soon as possible, and hurried on as fast as 
was consistent with thoroughness, a large force of the 
best workmen being employed, and the building was 
completed about a month ago. The building stands 
on a very fine and commanding site, being located 
on the westerly side of Main street, nearly opposite 
the Orono House. The lot falls off considerably as 
it recedes from the street, thus affording a good base- 
ment for heating apparatus and other necessary pur- 
poses. The building is fifty-two feet in width, on the 
street, and extends back eighty-seven feet. The 
walls are about forty feet in height, and are crowned 
by a roof of good pitch, which in turn, is surmount- 
ed by a cupola of graceful design and a tall flag-staff. 
The front has three entrances on the street level, 
above which are three lofty, well-proportioned win- 
dows, which open on a balcony. The gable is filled 
with ornamental wood-work, and altogether the front 



10 ORONO CENTENNIAL. 

presents an imposing appearance, well worthy the 
character of the building. 

THE FIRE DEPARTMENT. 

The middle entrance in front has two doors, is 
about ten feet wide, and leads direct to the engine 
room, which is thirty by thirty-nine feet, exclusive of 
a broad entry, and thirteen feet high. This room is 
to be occupied by the fire engines, hose carriages, 
and other apparatus of the fire department, and has 
a hose tower twenty-one feet high, extending into 
the basement. In the basement will be located a 
large cistern, so that in case of fire in the vicinity of 
the hall, the engines can be worked without being 
removed from their room. 

In the rear of the engine room is the firemen's 
hall, twenty-one by thirty feet, and thirteen feet high, 
to be used for the meetings of the engine companies, 
and behind this is a kitchen, twelve by nineteen feet, 
with several spacious ante-rooms and closets, and a 
sink and range, for use at levees, suppers, etc., when 
cooking is necessary. 

THE OFFICES 

above alluded to, are located on the same floor with 
and north of the engine room, etc., and are reached 
from a passage-way or entry six and a half feet wide, 
extending the length of the building. The first, 
nearest the street, is the Selectmen's office, fourteen 



ORONO CENTENNIAL. 11 

by twenty-four feet, fitted up with counter, case for 
books and papers, etc. Next back of this is a room 
for the Superintending School Committee, fourteen 
by sixteen feet, and behind this are two ante-rooms 
each fourteen by sixteen feet. 

THE HALL 

on the second floor, is reached from the street front 
by two entrances — one each side of the engine hall 
entrance — and two flights of stairs, each eight feet 
wide, which lead to a vestibule twelve and a half feet 
wide extending across the building. In this is loca- 
ted the ticket office, and from it two doors open into 
the hall, a handsome room seventy- two by fifty feet 
in size and twenty-five feet high. A commodious 
gallery extends along the sides and across the rear 
of the hall, and the ordinary seating capacity of hall 
and gallery is about nine hundred, though nearly fif- 
teen hundred persons can be accommodated by 
"packing." The hall is, like the exterior of the 
building, painted pure white, but it is intended to 
have the walls and ceiling frescoed in a year or two. 
From the spacious stage a stair-case leads down to 
an entrance in the rear of the building, where en- 
trance may also be gained to the hall and to the 
lower floor. The hall is warmed, as well as the rest 
of the building, by two wood furnaces in the base- 
ment, put in by Mr. Bond, of Orono. It is lighted by 



12 ORONO CENTENNIAL. 

gas supplied by an automatic gas machine, manu- 
factured and set up by the Gilbert & Barker Manu- 
facturing Co., of Springfield, Mass. 

All the work about the building has been done in 
a thorough manner, and the contractors, as well as 
the building Committee and the citizens of the town, 
may well be proud of their new town hall. 

The total cost of the completed structure will be 
not far from $17,000. 

CENTENNIAL AND DEDICATORY EXERCISES. 

The fine hall we have thus briefly described was 
packed to its utmost capacity last evening, and at an 
early hour every bit of standing room was occupied, 
and hundreds were unable to gain admission. Large 
delegations came in on the special trains from Old- 
town and Bangor ; and from many other places, both 
within and without the county, there were many vis- 
itors. The townspeople did everthing in their 
power, even to giving up their seats in the hall, for 
their visitors' comfort and convenience. 

A few minutes before eight o'clock, the Bangor 
Cornet Band, Harlow, leader, opened the exercises 
by playing in their best style Beyer's " Recollections 
of the Opera," a potpourri from " The Lily of Kil- 
larney," and a Fantasia by Beyer. 

Andrew G. Ring, Esq., chairman of the Building 



ORONO CENTENNIAL. 13 

Committee, which was, also, the committee of ar- 
rangements for this occasion, after a fervent prayer 
had been offered by Rev. C. F. Allen, D. D., President 
of the State College, made the following 

ADDRESS. 

Fellow Citizens and Invited Guests ; Ladies and 
Gentlemen : 

In behalf of the committee appointed by the town 
to superintend the erection of this building, I greet 
you, and bid you welcome here to-night. 

We have met here to commemorate the settlement 
of our town one hundred years ago, and in connection 
therewith to dedicate this building, to all suitable 
public uses by ourselves, and, we trust, by our chil- 
dren's children. 

For a number of years many of our citizens have 
had in mind the erection of some such building as 
this. Two years ago, after numerous schemes and 
repeated failures, a vote upon the question was taken 
by the town, and the result of that vote is before 
you. 

To you, fellow-citizens, we wish to say, if the com- 
mittee have performed the duty you assigned them, 



14 ORONO CENTENNIAL. 

to your satisfaction, it is ample reward for any anxie- 
ty they may have felt as to the final result. 

It is with feelings of extreme gratification, and, I 
hope excusable, pride, that in behalf of the commit- 
tee, I now present you, as the fruit of their labors, 
this beautiful and commodious structure, and bid you 
all a cordial welcome on this interesting occasion. 

I am directed to submit the following nominations 
for the officers of this meeting; : 



*o 



For President, Nathaniel Wilson, Esq. 

For Vice-Presidents, B. P. Gilman, Gideon Mayo, Jeremiah 
Colburn, Josiah S. Bennoch, Cony Foster, Samuel Page, Levi 
R. Weeks, George Ring, Freeman Rollins, Abraham Colburn, 
E. P. Butler, Andrew Smyth, John Libbey, Horace Banks, John 
H. Gilman, Joseph Graves, Abiather Foss, Jesse Snow, W. W. 
Temple, Elijah Marsh, Edward Mansfield, Nathan Frost, Paul 
D. Webster, Joseph McPheters, William Lunt, Charles Buffum, 
A. W. Weymouth, Stinson Peaslee, John W. Mayo, Levi Den- 
nett, David McMillan, Hugh Reed, Allen Freesc, Elijah W. 
Wyman, Benjamin Vinal, Matthew Oliver, Albeit II. White, 
William Hcald, II. M. Codman, Joseph B. Chase, E. R. South- 
ard, Niah Gould, Robert J. Hamilton, Joshua Johnson. 

For Secretaries, Col. John W. Atwell and Joseph C. Wilson, 
Esq. 

And these gentlemen were elected to the offices to 
which they had been nominated. 



ORONO CENTENNIAL. 15 

The President then said — 
Fellow Citizens : 

For the high honor conferred in selecting me to 
preside on an occasion of such deep and absorbing 
interest to this community, accept my most sincere 
and grateful acknowledgments, and trusting to your 
partiality and kindness, I shall endeavor to discharge 
the duties with such ability as I may possess. But, 
before proceeding to the regular exercises of the 
evening, so appropriately arranged by the very com- 
petent committee who have had this whole business 
in charge, I shall be pardoned for a brief allusion to 
some points of common interest immediately con- 
nected with this centennial celebration and dedica- 
tion of the Orono Town Hall. 

This third of March, 1874, marks a new era in the 
history of Orono. This noble structure, under whose 
stately roof, you, my fellow-citizens, and these our 
numerous, kind, and sympathising friends from Ban- 
gor and neighboring towns, who have here gathered 
to unite with us in ceremonies at once suitable and 
eminently becoming so eventful a period, is truly a 
fitting monument to the early settlers — to those 



16 OEONO CENTENNIAL. 

bold, enterprising, true men, who have given Orono 
its good name, and laid broad and deep the founda- 
tions of its prosperity and success. 

May a merciful Providence vouchsafe that this 
structure, in its artistic skill, its admirable propor- 
tions, its marked conveniences, its modest, simple, 
yet tasteful finish, may prove a pleasing and instruc- 
tive memento of the past, and, at the same time, an 
impressive incentive and stimulant for good to the 
present and all future residents of this goodly town. 

One hundred years have elapsed since the first 
white man is known to have sought, here, upon the 
banks of the Penobscot and Stillwater rivers, to es- 
tablish for himself and his posterity a home. In 
this assembly and before me now, are many of the 
immediate descendants of the first white settlers. 

One hundred years ! The human mind can, with 
difficulty, grasp this span of time. We cannot well 
command a perfect view of the long past — of the 
trials and sufferings — or of the sorrows and joys of 
these departed ancestors. But, their record is made 
up — their history is written, and we here and now 
solemnly pledge ourselves to cherish their memory 



OBONO CENTENNIAL. 17 

— to throw over their faults the mantle of charity, 
and resolve to become ourselves, wiser and better for 
the noble example they have left us. 

Would time and the arrangements for this festival 
warrant the intrusion, most joyously to myself, at 
least, would I devote a full hour in rehearsing some- 
what of the past during my forty years' sojourn in 
Orono. But, cheerfully, I waive that pleasure in an- 
ticipation of the far greater pleasure you are about 
to experience, in listening to the Historic Oration, 
especially prepared for the occasion by a former dis- 
tinguished resident. Before, however, calling upon 
him, I have deemed it not inappropriate to say a 
word, by way of commendation, of those who have 
been more immediately concerned in the building 
and completion of this structure. 

First, in order, I propose special commendation of 
George W. OrfF, the architect and designer. lie has 
shown himself master of his profession and a genius 
in the art. 

Second, large credit is due to our own fellow-citi- 
zen, David McMillan, who has done this superb spec- 



18 OEONO CENTENNIAL. 

iraen of plastering and all the mason work ; who, also, 
prepared the ground and built the firm, solid, and 
secure foundation upon which the building stands. 

Third, I take the responsibility to make this public 
mention of the names of the contractors — who have 
finished and completed the carpenter and joiner 
work — Charles B. Brown, of Bangor, and W. D. 
Chase, of Upper Stillwater. 

Faithfully, skillfully, and most thoroughly have 
they performed their part of the contract. They 
have spared no effort and no reasonable expense. 
That which they engaged to do has been clone well 
and satisfactorily. And here we are in the possession 
of a public building, which is not only an honor to 
the builders, but an honor and an ornament to the 
town. 

Fourth; Our enterprising committee, having no 
deeds of darkness to conceal, and having heard of 
the fame of a firm doing business in Springfield, in 
the good old Commonwealth of Massachusetts, by 
the name of Gilbert & Barker, sent thither and made 
request that they come east and let their light shine. 



ORONO CENTENNIAL. 19 

And here you behold a specimen — not only beau- 
tiful and brilliant, but economical. 

In this connection, fellow-citizens, I had designed 
to make a passing allusion to our building committee, 
and make a kindly and deserved mention of their 
valuable and gratuitous services, but they have sealed 
my lips, and forbid even the mention of the two first 
letters of their names. Fortunately they are per 
sonally known to most of you, and, through them, 
this building is now presented, complete in all its 
parts, and ready to be occupied. 

May it stand a hundred years to come — a speaking 
monument of the past, and a perpetual reminder to 
the generations, yet unborn, who may be permitted 
to gather here to discourse of the olden times — of 
the good old times of 1874. 

Fellow-citizens — I will now announce to you the 
orator of the evening, our former fellow-citizen, the 
Hon. Israel Washburn, Jr. His name announced, 
you need no other, or more formal introduction of 
him from me. 



J 



MR. WASHBURN'S ADDRESS. 

When, in 1605, Capt. George Weymouth, of the 
English ship Archangel, visited the gulf of Maine, 
planted a garden at Boothbay, and on the island of 
Monhegan set up a cross in testimony that he, then 
and there, under the auspices and in the name of 
the English crown, took possession of the territory 
now embraced within the limits of the State of 
Maine, that territory was occupied by two principal 
Indian nations, to wit : the Abenaques, having four 
tribes, and the Etechmins,* who were divided into 
three tribes. The largest and strongest of all the 
tribes of Maine was that of the Tarratines or Penob- 
scots. They belonged to the nation of the Etech- 
mins. They were, says Judge Williamson, " a numer- 
ous, powerful, and warlike people, more hardy and 
brave than their western enemies, whom they often 
plundered and killed. . . After the conquests and 



* The correct spelling of the names of these tribes, according to the Rev. 
Eugene Vetromile, is Abnaki and Etchimis. 



OBONO CENTENNIAL. 21 

glory achieved in their battles with the Bashaba and 
his allies, they were not like their enemies, wasted 
by disease and famine. They retained their valor, 
animated by success, and strengthened by an early 
use and supply of firearms, with which they were 
furnished by the French. Less disturbed than the 
western tribes in the enjoyment of their possessions, 
they were also more discreet ; they were always re- 
luctant to plunge into hostilities against the English." 
They inhabited the country upon the Penobscot 
river, and claimed dominion over the contiguous ter- 
ritory, from its sources to the sea. Their principal 
village or seat was probably never permanently es- 
tablished at any place, until it was fixed at Oldtown 
island, in the early part of the last century. Previ- 
ous to that date it was movable ; or perhaps the 
tribe occupied several villages at the same time, for 
it was a numerous people, and occupied a wide do- 
main. Even as late as the period of the Revolution, 
when it had been thinned and wasted, it possessed 
four hundred fighting men. But whatever the fact 
may have been in regard to the permanent or tem- 
porary character of their villages, or the number of 



22 ORONO CENTENNIAL. 

them existing contemporaneously, there is no doubt 
that they were almost invariably within the boundaries 
of the old town of Orono, or in its immediate neigh- 
borhood. Besides the seat at Oldtown, there were vil- 
lages at one time or another near the head of the 
tide in Bangor, one of which, Williamson thinks, was 
the ancient Negas, and which was known to the early 
settlers as Fort Hill There was also a village on 
the tongue of land that extends eastward from this 
hall to the Penobscot river, at Ayres' Falls, as they 
are now termed, bounded on the north by the Still- 
water river, and on the south by the basin. The 
Indians called the place Arumsumhungan. For 
many years after the settlement of the town by the 
white men, the vestiges of corn-fields and of habi- 
tations were plain and unmistakable, and until 
comparatively a recent period, stone weapons, and 
implements of agriculture, were occasionally turned 
up wherever the plough was driven, some of which 
I have seen in the possession of the late John Ben- 
noch, jr., Esq., and Col. Eben Webster, jr. I think it 
not improbable that this point of land at the conflu- 
ence of the Stillwater and Penobscot rivers, may 



OEONO CENTENNIAL. 23 

have been the site of the ancient " Lett " of the In- 
dians. When Major Livingston, in 1710, visited 
Canada in company with the younger Castine, with 
despatches for the French Governor, their journey 
was by way of the Penobscot river, and they tarried 
several days, detained by the Indians, at the " Island 
of Lett, where they met with fifty canoes, and twice 
as many Indians, besides women and children." As 
they went up the river from Castine in canoes, and 
were met by the Indians at an island, it seems, I 
think, more than probable, that the island referred 
to was the first at which they arrived above tide 
water, and that the place of the meeting was where 
there were falls and a carry. 

There was, also, a village at Nicola's Island, near 
Passadumkeag, and I agree with Judge Godfrey in 
the opinion expressed in his able and interesting 
address at the centennial celebration in Bangor, that 
the fort and village destroyed by Col. Westbrook in 
1722 were on this island. After the destruction of 
this place, the Indians and French gathered at Fort 
Hill, before mentioned, and built a village, consisting 
of several cottages with chimneys and cellars, a 



24 ORONO CENTENNIAL. 

chapel, and forty or fifty wigwams. But no sooner 
had intelligence of the planting of this new village 
reached Fort Richmond, than Capt. Joseph Heath 
was despatched with a company of men to break it 
up. The Indians, having received news of the ap- 
proach of Capt. Heath, deserted their village, and 
nothing was left for him and his men to do but to 
commit the village to the flames. Having accom- 
plished this feat, they returned to Fort Richmond. 

The Indians, after the retirement of Capt. Heath, 
returned to their old seat at Oldtown, and have occu- 
pied it uninterruptedly ever since. 

Their numbers, it is understood, are about as they 
were forty years ago. Their village is improving in 
every way, and, as seen from other islands and the 
mainland, it forms, with its white chapel and cottages, 
a picture of no little beauty. The preservation of 
the tribe, under circumstances unprecedented on this 
continent, the increasing capacity of its members, 
their steady improvement in habits and education, 
while living in the immediate neighborhood of a 
large white population, are facts which present their 
character and conduct in a most favorable light to 



OEONO CENTENNIAL. 25 

the attention and consideration of the student of 
civilization, the sociologist, and the historian. 

These Penobscot Indians were, I think, a peculiar 
people among the aboriginal tribes of this portion of 
the continent. While sturdy and brave, they were 
not quarrelsome ; they seem never to have been in- 
clined to make war upon the English, except under 
the influence of strong provocation ; and not unfre- 
quently gave examples of patience and submission, 
under fancied wrongs, that would have added a 
graceful charm to the character of their civilized 
neighbors. Of all the tribes, they had the least of 
the Philistine in them, and the most of that which, 
under better and fuller development, might stand for 
"sweetness and li«;ht." 

Williamson, referring to the conduct of this tribe 
about 1757, remarks — "No other eastern tribe had 
treated the English with so much forbearance and 
honor; and the good man's heart must be touched 
with sympathy for their melancholy condition, when 
he reflects that, in the present war upon them, our 
own people were the first and principal aggressors." 

I do not remember to have heard or read that for 



26 OEONO CENTENNIAL. 

a century and a quarter a single white had been 
wantonly killed by an Indian, or an Indian by a white 
man. It is undoubtedly true that at times they have 
been inconvenient and troublesome, and that at one 
period during the Revolution, some apprehension as 
to their purposes and good faith was indulged. That 
there was any real occasion for alarm, has generally 
been discredited in the light of all the facts that 
subsequently transpired. 

They were quite too familiar occasionally in the 
houses of their white neighbors, and sometimes, when 
in drink especially, were uncomfortable and rude ; — 
often " their room was better than their company." 
But not seldom they were welcome, as they were 
always frequent, and usually uninvited guests, in the 
best families. Take from the homes of the Colburns, 
the Marshes, the Freeses, the Whites, the Websters, 
the Bennochs, all recollection of " Orono," of u Mary 
Sissa," and of others who were in the habit of visiting 
their houses, remove all associations connected with 
them and their visits, and extinguish all recollection 
of their frequent acts of exceeding kindness and 
humanity, and you would destroy more that is pictur- 



ORONO CENTENNIAL. 27 

esque and beautiful in memory and tradition, than 
it is the fortune of most families or neighborhoods 
in this work-clay age to possess. 

There is nothing new under the sun, and so we 
find the question of woman's rights was raised and 
decided Ions; ago, at Oldtown. It was on the occasion 
of the termination, in September, 1816, of a bitter 
contest for the election of a chief, which was finally 
settled through the influence of the Catholic priest, 
who induced the Indians to leave all the rival candi- 
dates, and elect John Aitteon, a reputed descendant 
of the Baron de Castine by an Indian wife. The 
convention was held in the great wigwam, and there, 
upon the platform, were Aitteon, Neptune, and other 
captains and delegates, brave in scarlet broadcloth, 
brooches, collars, and jewels, while the space in front 
was crowded by the people of the tribe and of other 
tribes. The interest of the occasion drew many cit- 
izens to the village, and aware of their wishes to be 
spectators of the ceremonials, the Indian who acted 
as marshal was directed to admit them into the camp 
The admission of the female visitors was also re- 
quested ; but he replied, as directed by the chiefs, 



28 OliONO CENTENNIAL. 

"Never our squaws, nor yours, sit zoith us in council" 
The earliest chief of this tribe of whom there is 
much authentic history, was the great Madokawando, 
the adopted son of a chief of the Kanabis tribe, by 
the name of Assiminasqua. The time of his birth 
is not known, but he w r as active in the wars of King 
Philip, and was intimate with the elder Castine, to 
whom he gave his daughter Matilde for a wife, or as 
one of his wives, for this learned and pious French- 
man had ante-dated, as it would seem, the creed- of 
which Brigham Young is the modern prophet. He 
had Mogg, an able, cunning, treacherous Indian, for 
Lieutenant, or assistant Sagamore, until the death of 
the latter, which occurred at Black Point (Scarbo- 
rough) in 1677. Whittier describes him in these 
lines : 

Megonc hath his knife, and hatchet, and gun, 
And his gaudy and tasselled blanket on: 
His knife hath a handle with gold inlaid, 
And magic words on its polished blade — 
'Twas the gift of Castine to Mogg Megone, 
For a scalp or twain from the Yengees torn; 
His gun was the gift of the Tarratine, 

And Madokawando' s wives had strung 
The brass and the beads which tinkle and shine 
On the polished breech, and broad bright line 

Of beaded wampum around it hung. 



OEONO CENTENNIAL. 29 

Madokawando died in 1698. Drake, in his Book 
of the Indians, says, u He was not an enemy, nor do 
we learn that his people had committed any depre- 
dations until after some English spoiled his corn and 
otherwise did him damage." Hubbard called him a 
t{ sort of moralized savage." It is said that he always 
treated his prisoners well. Drake says he was suc- 
ceeded by his cousin, Wenamouet, or, as his name 
was sometimes spelt, Wennogonet ; but in another 
place he states that 3foxus seems the successor of 
Madokawando. I am inclined to think that Wena- 
mouet was the principal chief, and that Moxus, who 
was a Norridgewock sachem, held a relation to him 
something like that which Mogg had held to Mad- 
okawando, or, perhaps, Wenamouet was the counsel- 
lor, and Moxus the fighting man. Both of them 
appear in the subsequent history of the tribe. Moxus 
was at the great assembly at Falmouth in 1703, 
where the Indians met Gov. Dudley ; and at Casco, 
in 1713; and at Georgetown, in 1717, where he 
treated with the English. 

But in 1727 it is said that Wenamouet, at the head 
of forty Sagamores, appeared at Casco Neck, where 



30 ORONO CENTENNIAL. 

they met Gov. Dummer and a large number of coun- 
cillors, and held a conference which lasted a full 
week, and a treaty of peace was entered into, signed 
by Gov. Dummer and others on behalf of the Eng- 
lish, and Wenamouet and twenty-five Sagamores for 
the Indians. It was, according to Mr. Varney, in his 
well-prepared and useful " Young People's History of 
Maine," a great occasion, and the business ended with 
a public dinner. 

Who succeeded Wenamouet or Moxus, I do not 
know, nor do I know when either of them died. But 
as Orono was born in 1688, and so was thirty-nine 
years old in 1727, and as Wenamouet may have lived 
several, perhaps many, years after 1727, it is not un- 
reasonable to suppose that Orono may have been his 
immediate successor — an inference the more easy 
from the facts that after this time there was little 
trouble with the Indians, and that Orono was always 
inclined to peace and good neighborhood^. 

Joseph Orono, according to a tradition that re- 
ceived general acceptance among the old settlers, 
was the child of white parents, and was stolen in 
infancy by the Tarratines, from the neighborhood of 



OEONO CENTENNIAL. 31 

Brunswick. I have heard it said that he had blue 
eyes, and perhaps the impression in regard to his 
ancestry may have had its origin in, or gained 
strength from, this fact. At any rate, all accounts 
agree that he was an able, sagacious, and friendly 
chief. He could ever say with Logan, and truth- 
fully, that he was " the friend of the white man." 
When the Revolutionary war broke out, resisting all 
solicitations of other tribes, he extended his sympathy, 
and tendered his aid, to the Americans, and at a 
moment when Indians in other parts of the State 
were threatening to join the English, Orono, Jo. 
Pease, Poreris, and another captain, arrived at Fal- 
mouth (now Portland), on their way to the Provin- 
cial Congress. Mr. Gilman, their interpreter, repre- 
sented Orono as a " man of good sense, and a hearty 
friend to the Americans." The people of Falmouth 
provided for them a carriage, horses, and money to 
help them in their journey to Portsmouth. What 
followed, is told by Drake in the following words : 

" Only two days after the battle of Bunker Hill, 
there arrived at Cambridge, the headquarters of the 
Americans, a deputation of the Penobscot Indians, 



32 ORONO CENTENNIAL. 

of whom the celebrated Orono was chief. An order 
was passed for their entertainment while there, and 
for their return home. They came to tender their 
services in the war now begun, which was done by 
Orono in a speech to a committee of the Provincial 
Congress on the 21st of June, 1775. 'In behalf of 
the whole Penobscot tribe,' the chief said, if the 
grievances under which his people labored were re- 
moved, they would aid, with their whole force, to 
defend the country. Those grievances were briefly 
stated, and consisted chiefly of trespasses by the 
whites upon their timber lands, cheating them in 
trade, etc. The committee returned an affectionate 
address ; and although the groans of the dying from 
the late terrible field of battle were sounding in their 
ears, they say nothing about engaging the Indians in 
the war, but assured them that ' as soon as they could 
take breath from their present fight ' their complaints 
should receive attention. Some of the Penobscots 
did eventually engage in the war."* 

* Referring to this visit of the Penobscot chiefs to the Provincial Congress, 
I am able to add the following extract from a letter written a few days af- 
ter the delivery of this address, by the Hon. William Goold, of Windham: 

"The Provincial Congress was, in June, 1775, sitting in Watertown, 



ORONO CENTENNIAL. 33 

The Provincial Congress at this session strictly 
forbade all trespasses on lands claimed by the Indians, 
six miles in width on each side of the Penobscot 
river, from the head of the tide, up the river, as far 
as they claimed. And in 1786, a treaty was made, 
in which the Indians released all claim to lands on 
the Penobscot, from the head of the tide to the mouth 
of Piscataquis river, on the western side, and to the 
Mattawamkeag on the eastern side, reserving to 
themselves only Oldtown island, and all other islands 
in the river above it, to Mattawamkeag. The gov- 
ernment assured them the title in fee to these islands, 



Mass., and Samuel Freeman, of Falmouth, was the sole delegate from that 
town, and was at the above date (and for three years) Secretary to that 
body. His father, Enoch Freeman who was deputy collector of customs in 
1750 (the highest in office here), was, in 1775, the chairman of the ' Commit- 
tee of Safety and Inspection' for Falmouth. In a letter to his son at 
Watertown, dated June 14, 1775, he says, ' Lane is returned here from Pen- 
obscot with four Indian chiefs, Orono, Joseph Pease, Poreris, and ono 
more, bound up to the Congress. Orono seems to be a sensible, serious 
man, and a hearty friend. I can't help thinking that they should be well 
treated, justice done them respecting their lands, etc., and care taken that 
they are properly supplied with such things as shall enable them to get 
their living in their own way, by which they may now and forever be se- 
cured to the interest of the country. We have had a conference with them, 
and they chose to reserve what they had to say till they got to the grand 
council of the Province. We have provided a chaise to carry them to 
Portsmouth, and money to Lane for their expenses. . . . One Mr. Oilman 
is their interpreter, who speaks their tongue freely, and seems to be a 
clever young man. We wished them a pleasant journey and a happy 
agreement with the Council." 

3 



34 OEONO CENTENNIAL. 

and to two others near Sedgwick, and that the lands 
above those granted should be kept open as hunting 
grounds, and not be occupied by settlers. 

Controversies afterwards arose between the inhab- 
itants and the Indians, and a new treaty was made 
at Bangor, August 1, 1796, by which the Indians re- 
leased all their right to lands from Nichols' rock, in 
Eddington, thirty miles up the river, except Oldtown 
and the other islands above it. The Indians had 
previously conveyed to John Marsh the island, con- 
taining about five thousand acres, since known as 
Marsh island. The deed was executed — Jeremiah 
Colburn being witness — July 8, 1793, by a committee 
of Indians, who represented that they had "good 
right, full power, and lawful authority," and conveyed 
tt a certain tract or parcel of land situate in Penobscot 
river aforesaid, called Arumsunkhungan island, ad- 
joining Penobscot Great Falls, about five miles above 
the head of the tide." The consideration was " thirty 
bushels of good Indian corn." The sale was ratified 
in the following October, at a council of chiefs, held 
at the house of Robert Treat, Esq., in Bangor. Orono 
was present, and, with four others, signed the arti- 



ORONO CENTENNIAL. 35 

cles there entered into. The Commonwealth con- 
firmed this grant to Marsh by resolve of the General 
Court. 

The last treaty with this tribe was made February 
20, 1819, in pursuance of which, ten of the principal 
men executed, in the succeeding June, a deed of 
quitclaim to the Commonwealth, of all lands on both 
sides of the river, above the tracts that had been 
previously released, except four townships six miles 
square, viz. : one at the mouth of the Mattawamkeag, 
another on the opposite, or west side of the Penob- 
scot river, and two to be surveyed contiguous to the 
ninth range of townships, all of which were to remain 
to the Indians forever. In return, the Commonwealth 
agreed to secure to the tribe the use of two acres of 
land in Brewer, opposite Kenduskeag Point, to em- 
ploy a man to aid and instruct them in farming, to 
repair their church, and to deliver at Oldtown, in 
October of each year, live hundred bushels of corn, 
fifteen barrels of flour, seven of pork, one hogshead 
of molasses, one hundred yards of broadcloth, half 
red and half blue, fifty Indian blankets, one hundred 
pounds of powder, four hundred pounds of shot, one 



36 ORONO CENTENNIAL. 

hundred pounds of tobacco, six boxes of chocolate, 
fifty silver dollars. 

By a resolve passed January 22, 1819, an annual 
stipend of $350.00 for their religious teachers was 
granted. 

Orono died February 5, 1801, aged 113 years. 

The venerable Mrs. Hall, who is living in this vil- 
lage, in the 97th year of her age, has a distinct re- 
membrance of this chief, and was present at his 
funeral. She describes him as tall, straight, well- 
built, and fine-looking, with blue ej'es. Consider : the 
distance between us and the days of Addison, Dry- 
den, Pope; of Cotton Mather, and Gov. Dudley, is 
spanned by these two lives. 

The following lines were written on the occasion 
of the death of Orono. They were attributed to Hon. 
Martin Kinsley, a prominent citizen of Hampden, 
and who represented, from 1819 to 1821, this District 
in Congress, and are to be found in Vol. 1 of Alden's 
Epitaphs, published in 1812. 

" Ah, brother Sanop, what bad news you speak! 
Why steals the tear adown thy sombre cheek? 
Why heaves thy breast with such trememlous sighs? 
And why despair dart horror from thy eyes? 



ORONO CENTENNIAL. 



37 



Has the Great Spirit from the world above 
Called home your chief, the object of your love? 
Ah, yes! too well I know his spirit's fled; 
Too well I know your Orono is dead. 
Each warrior Sanop now unbends his bow, 
While grief and sorrow brood upon his brow; 
Each manly youth reclines his head and cries, 
' In Orono our friend and chieftain dies.' 
Each young pappoose to sympathy is bred, 
And shrieking, whoops, ' your Orono is dead.' 
Each sombre face in pallid hue appears, 
And each his grief in death-like silence bears. 
The great Penobscot rolls his current on, 
And silently bemoans his oldest son. 
A century past, the object of his care, 
He fed and clothed him with his fish and fur; 
But now, alas! he views his shores in vain, 

To find another Orono in man. 

For whiter Indians, to our shame we see, 
Are not so virtuous nor humane as he. 

Disdaining all the savage modes of life, 

The tomahawk and bloody scalping-knife, 

He sought to civilize his tawny race, 

Till death, great Nimrod of the human race, 

Hit on his track, and gave this hunter chase. 

His belt and wampum now aside are flung, 

His pipe extinguished and his bow unstrung. 

When countless moons their destined rounds shall cease, 

He'll spend an endless calumet of peace. 

EPITAPH. 

Safe lodged within his blanket here below, 
Lie the last relics of old Orono; 
Worn down with toil and care, he in a trice, 
Exchanged his wigwam for a paradise." 



38 ORONO CENTENNIAL. 

These verses, if not remarkable for ease or grace, 
are worthy of being recalled on this occasion for the 
testimony they bear to the virtues and character of 
the good chief. What the grand and sonorous name 
which he bore signified, or whence it was derived, I 
have never heard. But I trust that it will be here 
perpetuated and honored, alike for its own beauty 
and for the sake of him from whom it was taken, till 

"Countless moons their destined rounds shall cease." 

Ellis, speaking of the arrival of Capt. Cook at the 
Sandwich Islands in the last century, tells us in his 
Polynesian Researches, Vol. 4, p. 3 : " The news of 
such an event rapidly spread through the islands, 
and multitudes came to see the return of Orono, or 
the Motus (i. e. islands), as they called their ships." 

If in the Tarratine as in the Hawaiian language, 
" Orono " means an island or islands, the name was 
certainly not inappropriate for such a Lord of the 
Isles as our Orono was. 

It is not strange that so fine a name has been ap- 
propriated by other communities. There are post- 
offices, and I presume towns, of this name in Musca- 



ORONO CENTENNIAL. 39 

tine Co., Iowa, and Sherburne Co., Minnesota. In 
Durham County, Province of Ontario, is a quite im- 
portant town called Orono. A Methodist minister 
who had resided and preached in Maine many years 
since, whose name I do not now remember, wrote me 
more than thirty years ago, that he gave the name 
to the town in Canada in recollection of the strong 
resemblance of its natural features to those of this 
town. 

The first settlement in this town by white men was 
made in 1774, by Jeremiah Colburn and Joshua 
Eayres, and as their story is very fully given by 
themselves in a petition to the General Court of Mass. 
in 1776, 1 will reproduce it. 

PETITION OF JEREMIAH COLBURN AND JOSHUA 

EAYRES. 

To the honorable the Council and House of Repre- 
sentatives of the State, the Colony llassachusetts 
Bay, in General Court assembled at Watertown : 

The Petition of Jeremiah Colburn and Joshua 

Eayres, of Penobscot River, humbly showeth : 

That your petitioners 

have been settlers on Penobscot River for a number 



40 ORONO CENTENNIAL. 

of years, and that your petitioners were obliged to 
quit their settlements, after making great improve- 
ments on their lands, by order of proprietors, or per- 
sons pretending to own or claim the land, to their 
great damage, and had no place to go to. Your pe- 
titioners went farther up the river and settled on 
wild and unimproved lands, five miles above any set- 
tlement, where they thought no person could claim 
to turn them off There built two dwelling-houses, 
one-half a saw-mill, cleared a road to a meadow six 
miles, cleared another road to the inhabitants five 
miles, and cleared and improved a considerable tract 
of land, and built the other half of the mill by be- 
ing assisted by other people. Your petitioners began 
to build said dwelling-houses and mill in July, 1774, 
and in October following, moved our families upon 
the land, and there continued until May following ; 
in the mean time the Indians of the Penobscot tribe 
were continually at our houses, and we were always 
ready to assist them in anything they requested, and 
were always welcomed to any provisions they desired, 
which your petitioners have given them to the value 
of thirty pounds, lawful money, at least, and were 



ORONO CENTENNIAL. 41 

always kindly treated by us. And in May, 1775, 
your petitioners, being apprehensive of some danger 
from reports that the Canadian Indians intended to 
assist the people of Great Britain that might come 
across the country and destroy us, thought it most 
safe to move in to the inhabitants. Your petitioners 
moved their families and effects, and remained from 
May to August following, and one of us from May, 
1775, to June, 1776. All this while your petitioners 
were urged by the Indians to return to our settle- 
ments, and promised we should enjoy our possessions, 
and they would protect and support us in the same ; 
but since being acquainted that they had a promise 
of the lands from the Massachusetts Congress in June, 
1775, we would not move again until they gave us 
their words that we should enjoy peaceably our pos- 
sessions. In dependence of the same, we moved our 
families up the time above mentioned, and since have 
heard they have resolved, in council amongst them- 
selves, that every family shall be removed above the 
line that was settled by the Congress in June, 1775. 
They say they have a promise when the General 
Court next sits, that there will be an order to turn 



42 ORONO CENTENNIAL. 

us off, in consequence of which they have told all the 
inhabitants within their limits to get in readiness to 
move off when they gather their harvests. Your 
petitioners are always ready to comply with any rule, 
order, or regulation, as your Honours shall direot. 
Your petitioners would inform your Honours that we 
have spent all our substance in this settlement, and 
which renders us so poor, we are not able to move 
our families away. Your petitioners most humbly 
pray your Honours to take their difficult circum- 
stances into your wise consideration, and grant them 
such relief as you in your great wisdom shall see 
meet. And your petitioners, as in duty bound, shall 
ever pray. 

Jeremiah Colburn, 
Joshua Eayres. 
Penobscot River, lGth Aug., 1776. 

Sept. 5th, 1776. — The Committee to whom was 
referred the consideration of the above petition, have 
attended that service, and beg leave to report that 
th3 petitioners have leave to withdraw the same. 

Jedediah Preble, per order. 



ORONO CENTENNIAL. 43 

Messrs. Colburn and Eayres, however, were never 
disturbed in their possessions. 

Two days after the foregoing report was made, viz., 
Sept. 7, 1776, the General Court passed the follow- 
ing resolve for the payment of wages and rations to 
Jeremiah Colburn and Samuel Low : 

On the petition of Jeremiah Colburn and Samuel 
Low, 

Resolved, That there be paid out of the Treasury 
of this State to the above petitioners, the same wages 
and rations as were allowed to the other soldiers of 
Capt. Lane's Company, viz. : six dollars per month, 
and seven pence half penny per day, each, for rations, 
amounting in the whole to sixteen pounds and eleven 
shillings each. 

It would appear from this resolve that the services 
of Mr. Colburn were recognized and remunerated. 

Mr. Colburn appears to have been in Watertown, 
where the General Court was in session, for, five days 
afterwards, he puts in another petition, a copy of 
which, with the resolve passed in answer thereto, I 



44 ORONO CENTENNIAL. 

will read, as they give us a view of matters on the 
Penobscot at that time, and show that Mr. Colburn 
enjoyed the confidence of the Legislature. 

MEMORIAL OF JEREMIAH COLBURN. 

To the honourable Council and to the honourable 
House of Representatives, in General Court assem- 
bled at Watertown, in the State of Massachusetts 
Bay, the 12th day of Sept, A. B. 1776: 

The Memorial of Jeremiah Colburn, of Penobscot, 
humbly showeth : 

That your memorialist would inform 
your Honours, upon your appointing twenty men, 
together with ten Indians, as a guard at Penobscot, 
under the command of Lieut. Gilman and myself, 
that your memorialist would be glad to know if your 
Honours would order some subsistance and ammuni- 
tion for the said thirty men, by your memorialist, as 
he is bound home on his duty. And your memorial- 
ist, as in duty bound, shall ever pray, &c. 

Jeremiah Colburn. 

Resolve for the delivery of gunpowder, &c, to Mr. 
Jeremiah Colburn, passed Sept. 17th, 1776. 



ORONO CENTENNIAL. 45 

On the petition of Mr. Jeremiah Colburn, 
Resolved, That the Commissary-General be, and he 
is hereby directed to deliver out of the stores be- 
longing to this State unto the petitioner, sixty flints 
and thirty pounds of gunpowder, and lead answera- 
ble thereto, for the use of the guard mentioned in 
the petition, and also provisions enough to supply 
the said guard for the space of three months, accord- 
ing to the established allowance in the army, he, the 
said petitioner, Jeremiah Colburn, to be accountable 
for the distribution and expenditure of the same. 

These papers are copied from the American Arch- 
ives, Vol. 2, 5th series, a work prepared by Peter 
Force, and published by authority of Congress. We 
are fortunate to find a statement at once so full and 
so authentic of the time and circumstances of the 
settlement of this town. 

Jeremiah Colburn and Joshua Eayres. Your ven- 
erable and respected fellow-citizen, Mr. George Ring, 
who was brought, in 1800, when he was five years 
old, to this town, .where he has ever since resided, 
thinks that the first house in town was built in 1773 



46 ORONO CENTENNIAL. 

by Joshua Eayres, but I regard it as more probable 
that his informant was in error than that Messrs. Col- 
burn and Eayres should have made a mistake in their 
petition. Williamson, in his History of Maine, says 
they settled here in 1774, and that John Marsh was 
on the Island soon afterwards. 

Jeremiah Colburn built his house, (as I was in- 
formed Nov. 15, 1858, by the late William Colburn, 
jr., his grandson), on what is now Mill street, near 
where Wyatt H. Folsom, Esq., lived at that time. 
Mr. Eayres, as Mr. Colburn, jr., told me, put up a house 
on what is now Middle street, a short distance from the 
Universalist parsonage, and nearly in the rear of the 
Orono House. He owned the island in the Basin 
that bears his name. This island was a great place 
for taking salmon, shad, and alewives, three-quarters 
of a century ago. 

The first mill in town — that referred to by Messrs, 
Colburn and Eayres in their petition — was built, ac- 
cording to my informant, on the south side of the 
Stillwater, near a small island, and not far from the 
match factory. Capt. David Read afterwards built a 
mill on the same spot. Both were saw-mills. 



ORONO CENTENNIAL. 47 

The first white child born in Orono, was Esther, 
daughter of Joshua Eayres. She was born April 30, 
1777. In 1795 she married Wm. McPheters, and 
from that time to her death, Sept. 5, 18G9, 74 years, 
she lived on the firm now owned and occupied by 
her son, Joseph McPheters. 

Mr. Eayres moved to Passadumkeag in 1800, leav- 
ing his name attached to the island which has since 
became the seat of the most extensive lumber man- 
ufacture in the State, and to the falls which, as ap- 
pears by the deed of the Indians to John Marsh, had 
been previously known as Penobscot Great Falls; at 
a still earlier date, as we have seen, they were called 
Arumsumhungan Falls. 

Mr. Colburn continued to reside in this town till 
his death. He was born — it is believed, in Dracut, 
Mass. — in 1726. The name of his wife was Fanny 
Hodgkins. They were living in Brewer as early as 
1773, for in that year Mr. Colburn visited this imme- 
diate locality in search of an eligible place for settle- 
ment, He seems, as a sensible man, to have been 
satisfied with what he saw here, for the next year he 
moved with his family and made a home, as already 



48 ORONO CENTENNIAL. 

mentioned, on what is now Mill street. John Marsh, 
who was destined to become a member of his family, 
accompanied him on his visit in 1773. 

When the families of Messrs. Colburn and Eayres 
left their homes in 1775, as mentioned in their peti- 
tion, it is said, that, having buried, or in some way 
concealed, their effects near Upper Stillwater, they 
passed up the Stillwater to Pushaw stream, and fol- 
lowing that to the lake, crossed to the waters of the 
Kenduskeag, thence to the pond in Newport, and 
descended the Sebasticook to Fort Halifax, in Wins- 
low. From Winslow Mr. Colburn went to Pittston. 
He was at Camden some time after this, and while 
there, in charge of ammunition and stores, was sur- 
prised by a party of British soldiers, taken prisoner, 
and carried to Bagaduce (Castine). On an exchange 
of prisoners he returned to this place, to find that his 
buildings had been entirely destroyed during his ab- 
sence. His household effects, however, which had 
been taken to another place, were uninjured. In a 
short time they were required for the furnishing of 
another house. 

Mr. Colburn owned or occupied, it is believed, 



ORONO CENTENNIAL. 49 

nearly all the territory upon which the main land 
part of the village stands, extending up the Stillwater 
as far as the farm now owned by Elijah W. Wyman. 

He died in 1808, and was buried in the old ceme- 
tery near South Water street. His children were, 
William; Betsey, who became the wife of Capt. 
Daniel Jameson, whose house was first near Upper 
Stillwater, and afterwards where Cony Foster's place 
is ; Sarah, who married John Marsh ; Jeremiah, who 
died unmarried, at the age of 21 years ; and Fanny, 
the wife of Samuel White, Esq. 

William, the eldest son, was born in Dunstable, 
Mass., in 1760. He was in the Revolutionary war 
for a time, and drew a pension for several years be- 
fore his death. The gun which he carried in the 
service is still preserved in the family as a valued 
relic of the struggle for independence, and as evi- 
dence of the claim, by inheritance, of its descendants, 
to a share in the glory of that historic period. He 
died April 6, 1847, at his residence on the Stillwater 
road, where his grandson, Charles H. Colburn, after- 
wards lived, until the house was destroyed by fire. 

His wife, whom he long survived, was Abigail Whitte- 
4 



50 ORONO CENTENNIAL. 

more, a twin sister of Mrs. Abram Freese. Mr. Col- 
burn's children were, William, who died in 1862, 
a man of great industry and strong sense, and a good 
citizen ; Jeremiah, venerable and greatly respected, 
whose home is on the place where he and his broth- 
er, William, had lived together for almost half a cen- 
tury ; Edmund, who died in 1S68 ; Abram, who is 
now living in town ; and Abigail, who died in 1825. 
Six of his children died in infancy. 

There is something refreshing and reassuring in 
these days, when ties, the strongest and most sacred, 
are so easily and rudely broken, and people are 
everywhere on the move, discontented with their 
homes, and uneasily anxious to go somewhere else, 
to find an old family remaining, generation after 
generation, upon the spot where it was planted, its 
members drawing from the soil beneath them, the 
atmosphere around, and the sky above, the ele- 
ments of health, strength, fulness, and breadth — 
making themselves a power, a beneficence, and a 
history in the community of which they are a 
part, and which they have aided to shape and 
organize, and in which they are contented and happy 



ORONO CENTENNIAL. 51 

to live. Blessed is the town that grows and strength- 
ens in the possession of these old families, whose 
sons and daughters are willing to stand in the places 
of their ancestors, and are able to make them better, 
pleasanter, and more beautiful than they found them ! 
Of such families there are several in this town, but 
none whose entry upon the soil was at a date so 
early as that of Jeremiah Colburn. Possessing some 
of the best lands in the neighborhood, rich in soil 
and beautiful in situation, they have set an example 
to others by patient industry, intelligent interest in 
things around them, contentment with their lot, and 
blameless living, whose value can scarcely be esti- 
mated. 

John Marsh, the Interpreter, as he was called, was 
born in Mendon, Mass., in 1740, and came to Orono 
in 1774 with Jeremiah Colburn, whose daughter, 
Sarah, he afterwards married. Establishing himself 
in the immediate neighborhood of a large tribe of 
Indians, he, and his neighbors, Colburn and Eayres, 
lived as safely and tranquilly as if both parties had 
been of the same race and kin. While this fact 



52 ORONO CENTENNIAL, 

argues well for the natives, it gives testimony, too, 
to the good character, practical sense, and kindly 
qualities of the new settlers. Mr. Marsh took great 
pains to cultivate the friendship of the Indians ; he 
was much with them, and succeeded in gaining their 
confidence and regard ; and, in return for his good 
offices, they rewarded him with a grant, princely in 
the extent of territory conveyed, and in the gener- 
osity that inspired the act — the specified considera- 
tion heing merely nominal. The Commonwealth 
confirmed his title to the Indian grant of Marsh Is- 
land, and his possession was undisturbed. The vil- 
lages of Oldtown, Great Works, Pushaw, and portions 
of Lower and Upper Stillwater, containing altogether 
five thousand acres, and a population, at the present 
time, of near five thousand people, are included within 
this grant. No island within the State — not even Mt. 
Desert, with its three towns, and probably 50,000 
acres — is so populous or wealthy as this. Mr. Marsh 
had obtained some knowledge of the place before 
coming here in 1774, from having visited it as hunter 
and guide. He accompanied Messrs. Colburn and 
Eayres to the Kennebec in 1775, and afterwards 



ORONO CENTENNIAL. 53 

piloted through a body of troops. He returned, 
and again piloted some soldiers from Hampden to 
Kennebec. He settled on the island known by his 
name, and on the spot where Col. Ebenezer Webster 
afterwards resided. The orchard in front of the res- 
idence of Paul D. Webster was planted by Mr. Marsh. 
He died on the Vinal farm in 1814, and was buried 
in the village cemetery by the side of his father-in- 
law. His wife, Sarah Colburn, born Oct. 1, 1759, 
died May 26, 1841. He left numerous children, of 
whom the Rev. Jeremiah Marsh, of Exeter, Me., 
born March 15, 1791, and Elijah, born Nov. 28, 1801, 
and whose home has never been elsewhere than on 
Marsh Island, are now living, as are three daughters, 

Mary, who married Oliver, Abigail, who married 

Phineas Vinal, and Elizabeth, wife of Buzzell. 

Samuel, the eldest son, died in 1810; Benjamin, 
whose well-known form was so familiar on these 
streets a quarter of a century ago, died in 1863, in 
the eighty-third year of his age ; Ziba, whom many 
of you remember as living on the island, on the River 
road, died in 1843 ; John, in 1852 ; and William, a 



54 ORONO CENTENNIAL. 

Methodist clergyman, of good ability and much re- 
spected, in Canada, in 1865, at the age of 76. 

Capt. Abram Tourtellotte, who was born in 1744, 
moved from Rhode Island to Orono, and settled on 
the farm on the Bangor road, now owned by Samuel 
Page, in 1781. He made the first clearing on this 
farm, and lived on it thirty-eight years, dying there 
in 1819. By his first wife, Hannah Coombs, he had 
two children, born in Rhode Island, Reuben and 
Abram ; by his second he had two daughters, also 
born in that State — Hannah, who married a man by 
the name of Carpenter, and Amy, whose husband's 
name was Andrews ; by his third, Leah Mansfield, he 
had seven children, all born in Orono. Reuben, the 
eldest son, came here at the close of the war. He 
was born in 1765. He married Lucy Mansfield, at 
Bangor, by whom he had twelve children, all born in 
Orono. He afterwards moved to Passadumkeag, 
where he died in 1826. Abram came to Orono with 
his father. 

Samuel White was born in Mendon, Mass., in 1760, 



ORONO CENTENNIAL. 55 

and became an inhabitant of Orono in 1784, where 
he married Fanny, daughter of Jeremiah Colburn, 
by whom he had seven children. He settled first 
near Upper Stillwater, but moved in a short time to 
the farm on the island where his son Daniel lived so 
long. In the early years of the town he was a 
magistrate, whose services were frequently employed 
by his neighbors. He died January 19, 1829 ; his 
wife died April 3, 1828. 

Daniel White, his son — the second of the name, 
the first having died in infancy — for so many years 
the owner and occupant of the southerly farm, be- 
longing to the college, was a native of Orono, and 
was a man of excellent sense, and of uncompromising 
honesty. He was, perhaps, the only man on Penob- 
scot river, who, prior to 1850, had carried on, for a 
term of ten or more years, the business of lumbering, 
and always preserved his credit intact and unsus- 
pected. Previous to that time, the occupation of the 
lumberman was a very different thing from what it has 
been since. The demand for lumber was limited, the 
supply boundless ; and if, one year, money was made, 
the business was so crowded the next that the market 



56 ORONO CENTENNIAL. 

was sure to be over-supplied, and the losses would 
exceed the gains of the previous season. There was 
no such thing as calculating upon the market before- 
hand ; and, besides, the risks and charges attending 
the driving and holding of logs were much greater 
than they are now. The lumber was of, perhaps, 
the very best quality of pine ever grown upon this 
continent, and it was not distant. But system in 
conducting the business had not been introduced ; 
everything was done on credit, and prices of goods 
and supplies were fabulously high. When, at one 
time, Maj, D., a slip-shod lumberman, desired to 
purchase of his old supplier, Gen. Trafton, of Bangor, 
five or six yards of cotton cloth, the General, not 
wishing exactly to deny the Major, yet hoping to 
close accounts with him, put upon his cloth the un- 
conscionable price of seven and sixpence a yard, 
thinking the Major would not pay it. But the latter, 
in no sense daunted or discouraged, simply said, "I 
like your conversation much, Gen. Trafton ; I'll take 
the whole piece." 

But Mr. White always paid cash, hired the best 
men, paid them fair prices and promptly, provided 



ORONO CENTENNIAL. 57 

the best kinds of food and enough of it, and so got 
from his crews more good and profitable work than 
any other man in those days could. Col. Webster 
and John H. Pillsbury were often partners with 
him, and when they were, were pretty certain to 
make money. Besides this, he never took great 
risks, and having made one good operation and laid 
up money, he never risked it all the next year. And 
once having secured a capital, he could hold on to 
his lumber in dull times, when everybody else was 
obliged to sell, and the next year, when his neighbors 
could not get into the woods, his boards would be 
pretty sure to bring remunerative prices. 

Firm and decided in his opinions, and not without 
prejudices, he was, nevertheless, a man who took 
pleasure in extending accommodation and relief 
whenever he could do so, and, though strict, was just 
in all his dealings. His word was better than his 
bond — for while he would pay the exact sum stipu- 
lated in the latter, he would pay the exact sum and 
a little more where he had only given his word, in 
order that there should be no question as to the in- 
tegrity with which his obligation had been kept, Mr. 



68 ORONO CENTENNIAL. 

White was born in Orono, June 19, 1796 ; died Feb. 
22, 1862. 

Samuel White, a younger brother, was sometimes 
engaged in business with Daniel. He died in this 
town, June 16, 1856. His health for many years had 
been feeble, and he was not able to be engaged in 
active business. He was a just man. 

There were four daughters, two of whom — Hannah 
and Rebecca — died young ; one, Fanny, married Re- 
tire W. Freese. She was born January 28, 1793, and 
died July 14, 1870. Betsey, born February 15, 1800, 
is living in Orono. 

Capt. Daniel Jameson, a shipmaster, was a native 
of Freeport, Me., who came to Orono about 1785, 
where he married Betsey Colburn. He was the 
father of Mrs. Wm. Colburn, jr., and of Daniel Jame- 
son, so well known in your village for many years, 
and who died in 1872. He was cast away, and died 
at sea in November, 1798, on a passage from Boston 
to Bangor. 

Joseph Page, a native of Rhode Island, settled in 
Orono soon after the Revolution, on the farm on the 



OliONO CENTENNIAL. 59 

Bangor road now occupied by James Page. His 
children were Roger, Joseph, James, Isaac, Huldah, 
Phebe, Polly, and Stephen. During the Revolution 
he lived near Mt. Hope, in Bangor, whence he was 
driven by the British for refusing to take the oath of 
allegiance to the crown. His house was burnt and 
his stock stolen and carried away. His youngest 
son, Stephen, was born there in 1775, and when a 
small boy, was brought to this town, where he grew 
to manhood, married Annie, daughter of Joshua 
Eayres, and settled on the farm before occupied by 
his father. His second wife was Jane Orcutt, born 
in Eddington, 1780. He died Jan. 4, 1857, and his 
widow Dec. 1, 1871. Of his eleven children, six, 
viz. : Stephen, Samuel, Elijah, Martha, Catherine, and 
Jackson, are now living. 

Antoine Lachance was born in Quebec in 1750 or 
1751. In his declaration made August 28, 1832, to 
obtain a pension, he says 1751, but in a deposition 
given in 1837, he says he was nine years old when 
Quebec was taken by Wolfe. He was thus twenty - 
four or twenty-five years of age when Montgomery 



60 ORONO CENTENNIAL. 

made his attack upon that city. He also states that 
he enlisted at Quebec in the army of the United 
States in 1775, with Capt. Livingston's company, and 
served in Col. Livingston's regiment; that the troops 
were under the command of Gen. Arnold ; that he 
was taken prisoner in June, 1776, escaped, and again 
enlisted under Capt. Page in 1778, and went with 
him to the Chaudiere as the pilot of a scouting par- 
ty, and was discharged on his return, which was in 
about six weeks ; that in June, 1779, he enlisted on 
board the Monmouth, Capt. Ross, at Castine, and was 
in the service three months, during which time the 
vessel was taken to Bangor, and burnt; that in 1781 
he enlisted in Capt. Walker's company, in a regiment 
commanded by Maj. Ulmer, and was stationed at- Cas- 
tine. Wm. Colburn, the elder, testifies that he served 
with Lachance in the same company at this time. 
After the strife of battle came the sweets of peace, 
and at Winslow, in this State, in the month of No- 
vember, 1782, our Canadian soldier exchanged the 
service of Mars for that of Venus, and became the 
husband of Sarah Buzze. They must soon after this 
time have moved to Orono. It is, perhaps, not im- 



ORONO CENTENNIAL. 61 

probable that he had been here before his marriage, 
for Elizabeth (or Betsey) Jameson, daughter of Jere- 
miah Colburn, testified, Oct. 9, 1845, that she had 
known Antoine Lachance for sixty years before his 
death, and she was at that time eighty-four years 
old. 

Lachance, in a deposition given in 1837, says he 
had resided where he then lived (on the southwest 
corner of the upper College lot) forty odd years. 
He was probably there as early as 1795, and re- 
mained till his death, which occurred August 6, 
1839. His wife survived him, drew a pension, and 
died a few years ago. They had numerous children, 
and, from the fact that the father was usually called 
by his Christian name, assumed that as their patron- 
ymic, so we no longer have Lachances, but Antoines. 
The last time I saw Antoine, the elder, was at the 
September election at Great Works in 1838, at which, 
after a severe contest, Col. Ebenezer Webster was de- 
feated as candidate for Representative by Retire W. 
Freese. The contestants rallied their last man, and 
Antoine appeared upon the scene about noon, ready 
to die in the last ditch for Col. Webster. He was 



G2 



ORONO CENTENNIAL. 



very infirm, and in his primitive style of dress and 
sugar-loaf cap, made an exceedingly grotesque ap- 
pearance. When the word was spoken announcing 
the arrival of x\ntoine, there was a sensation that 
penetrated both ranks, and the proposition that in- 
stead of Antoine's coming to the ballot-box, the box 
should go to him, was accepted by general consent. 

Antoine was a squatter upon the northerly farm 
now owned and occupied by the State College, but 
when he had been there nearly twenty years he con- 
veyed the lot to James Harrison ; living there twen- 
ty odd years more, he testified that this deed was 
worthless, and that the land rightfully belonged, as 
indeed it did, to Seth Wright, of Northampton, Mass., 
who held it by deed from John Marsh. Antoine was 
a character, and many are the anecdotes told of him. 
He was good-natured, but unreliable — plain, but not 
without craft — accommodating, but prejudiced against 
paying debts. He did a little at farming, more at 
shingle-weaving, and still more, perhaps, at fishing, 
livino 1 from hand to mouth, but yet always man- 
aging to get enough. If his principles touching the 
rights of property were easy and mixed, his " sang 



ORONO CENTENNIAL. 63 

forhead" as his neighbor Longfellow called it, was 
irresistible, and public opinion would never tolerate 
any oppression of Antoine. When he had been sup- 
plied for many weeks by Maj. Treat, with salt, meal, 
molasses, pork, tobacco, and rum, for the prosecution 
of the business of shad and salmon fishing, after 
long waiting and no fish brought by Antoine to the 
head of the tide, the Major came to Orono to see 
what he was doing. Antoine, discovering his ap- 
proach in the distance, began to give his dog a most 
unmerciful flogging; the dog yelled and Antoine 
swore, and such was the strength of the chorus that 
the Major could not be heard for several minutes. 
"What are you whipping that dog for?" demanded 
Treat. Another cut, and " Blast the dog," only it 
was a tougher verb. " But what has the dog been 
doing ? " " The cussed thief has eat up all the fish ! " 
shrieked Antoine. 

Park Holland, Esq., was the agent of Wright, and, 
as such, had the oversight of the lot on which Antoine 
lived. The latter went to him, one day, and told 
him there was an old pine stub on the land, of no 
sort of value to any one else, but he thought he 



64 OEONO CENTENNIAL. 

could make a few shingles of it if he could be al- 
lowed to do so. Permission was given ; but Mr. Hol- 
land noticed that for some months shingles were 
being taken in large quantities to market by Antoine. 
Meeting him one day, he inquired if that weren't a 
good stub. "Mighty good stub!" squealed the 
Frenchman, and that was the end of it, for who would 
think of prosecuting the " chartered libertine?" 

It may interest our College friends to know that 
the ground where their buildings stand was cleared 
up, and occupied for half a century, by a French 
Canadian, who had seen the fight between Wolfe and 
Montcalm, and had served before Quebec under 
Montgomery. 

There came from Frankfort, in the present county 
of Waldo, Robert, John, Joshua, and Joseph Treat, 
before the year 1790, who made homes in Orono. 
They were engaged chiefly in fishing and lumbering. 
There are no descendants of any of them now in 
town. John moved to Enfield, and died there a few 
years ago. 



OliONO CENTENNIAL. 65 

I doubt if the others had a permanent residence 
here. Robert was a prominent man in Bangor, doing- 
business at the head of the tide for many years. 

William Lunt moved into what is now Oldtown 
as early as 1785. He had numerous children, some 
of whom resided afterwards in this part of the town, 
where there are now living several grand-children. 
His son Abram is now a resident of Milford, and is 
84 years old. 

Abram Frees e, with his sons John, Retire W., and 
Isaac, moved into town from Bangor in 1790. The 
former settled on the lot on the Stillwater road, after- 
wards owned and occupied, for half a century or 
more, by his son Retire W., and which is one of the 
best farms in this part of the State, so far as soil and 
situation are concerned. The father put up on this 
lot the first frame building erected in Orono. 

Mr. Freese was probably in Orono before he 

lived in Bangor, for it is known that he accompanied 

Mr. Colburn to Kennebec, on one occasion, with his 

wife and her infant son, John. He died in Orono 

about the year 1800. 
5 



66 ORONO CENTENNIAL. 

Retire W. Freese was born in Bangor in 1785. He 
died on the farm on which he had always lived, in 
1860. His wife was Fanny, daughter of Samuel 
White, Esq. He had a large family of children, sev- 
eral of whom are now living in this town. He rep- 
resented the town in the State Legislature in 1839. 
His erect and noble form as he moved upon your 
streets will not be easily forgotten by those of you 
who were accustomed to see him in his frequent visits 
to the village. 

Capt. David Read was an early settler ; he came 
from Topsham in 1793. He built, in 1800, the second 
frame house in town, that which was afterwards 
owned and occupied by John Bennoch, Esq., a few 
rods north of this hall. It was for the time an unu- 
sually good house, with large rooms, and high cor- 
niced walls. The first tavern in town was kept in 
this house by Perez Graves. The first meeting for 
election of town officers was held at this house, 
April 7, 1806. He built the first mill where the 
stone mill now stands. This was in 1786. 

John Read, who owned for so many years the very 




RESIDENCES ok COL. EBENEZER WEBSTER, MRS. MARTHA (WEBSTER) TREAT. NM> 
I' AIL I). WEBSTER, ESQ. 



ORONO CENTENNIAL. 6Y 

excellent farm on which B. P. Gilman, Esq., now 
lives, and George Read, who held the place now 
owned by Mrs. William Rollins, were his sons. 

Mr. John Read was one of the selectmen elected 
at the first meeting after the incorporation of the 
town. He lived to a good old age, and raised a large 
family of children, none of whom are now living in 
Orono. His brother George died here some thirty 
years ago, leaving a widow and several children. 
Among the latter is Hugh Read, the proprietor of 
the -Orono Hotel. 

Joseph Inman first occupied the farm which was 
afterwards owned by John Read. There were sev- 
eral members of this family, and some of their de- 
scendants are in town at the present time. 

Andrew Webster settled in Orono about 1795; 
he was a native of Salisbury, Mass., and was probably 
the son of Andrew Webster, born in that town Nov. 
12, 1710, whose parents were John and Sarah Web- 
ster, and when quite young was brought by his father 
to New Meadows, in Brunswick, Me. He was after- 



68 ORONO CENTENNIAL. 

wards at Topsham, where he married Martha Crane. 
When a young man, he moved to Castine, and, after 
a brief residence there, he came to Bangor, and 
pitched his tent near the intersection of Main and 
Water streets, in the year 1771. 

His house in Orono was on the site now occupied 
by the residence of his grand-daughter, Mrs. Joseph 
Treat. The old house was taken down in 1835. He 
died in it November 1, 1807, from an injury occa- 
sioned by the falling of a mill timber. His widow 
died in 1823. During the Revolutionary war he was 
taken prisoner by the British, and carried to Baga- 
duce. He left a large family, of whom three — Eben- 
ezer, Elijah, and Martha, wife of Capt. Francis 
Wyman — settled in Orono. Richard lived in Glen- 
burn ; Andrew and James settled in Liverpool, N. S., 
and died there ; Andrew was a physician. Daniel's 
home was in Bangor, near the head of the tide ; 
Prudence married William Hasey, of Glenburn ; 
Margaret married Aaron Griffin, of Albion. 

Col. Ebenezer Webster was a man of great enter- 
prise and public spirit, and for more than half a cen- 
tury was one of the most active business men and 



OEONO CENTENNIAL. 69 

useful citizens of the town. His hand was never 
idle, and his heart was always open. He was a gen- 
tleman, not through artificial aids or studied accom- 
plishments, but by the patent of his creator. The 
late Judge Frederic H. Allen was accustomed to say 
that he was by nature the most perfect gentleman 
he had ever known. Eminently a social man, his 
entertainment of neighbors and friends was so unaf- 
fected and cheery, that of the great number to whom 
his ample parlors had been opened, there probably 
was never one who was not made to feel, not merely 
that he was welcome, but that he had conferred a 
positive favor by his company. 

Col. Webster was engaged in the business of lum- 
bering from an early age almost to the time of his 
death ; and at several periods was extensively inter- 
ested in the purchase of real estate, principally tim- 
ber lands. Many of his investments in this kind of 
property were fortunate, but some were not so. By 
one purchase he suffered great loss of property, and 
was, in consequence, much crippled in his affairs. 
But nil desperandum was his motto ; and never was 
he down, but straightway he rose again, and went to 



/O OBONO CENTENNIAL. 

work as cheerfully and confidently as ever. He was 
a man who had seen many phases of life, and who 
had known many of its vicissitudes. But by none of 
these experiences was his faith in his fellow-men ever 
shaken, or his readiness to help them, when in need, 
abated. 

Col. Webster was born in Bangor, October 3, 1780, 
and he died in Orono, August 16, 1855. In an obit- 
uary notice of him published in the Bangor Whig, it 
was said, " He will long be remembered by the com- 
munity in which he lived, for his enterprise and 
perseverance as a business man, and for his active 
interest in all that concerned their welfare, but longer 
and better for the rare and generous qualities devel- 
oped in his social and family relations, and which 
formed so prominent a part of his character, and 
stamped him one of nature's noblemen." 

He married, Sept. 5, 1805, Lucy Dudley, daughter 
of Paul Dudley, Esq., of Milford. She was born 
April 15, 1783, and died in Orono, May 7, 1859. Of 
nine children born to them, six are now living in 
Orono. 

Elijah Webster was born in Bangor in 1790, and 



ORONO CENTENNIAL. 7l 

settled iii Orono on the farm now owned by Col. 
Eben Webster, his nephew, in 1821. He was some- 
times interested in lumbering, but his attention was 
given principally to his farm. He was a public-spir- 
ited citizen, an accommodating neighbor, and a faith- 
ful friend. He died at Orono, June 28, 1863. His 
wife, Lucinda Tyler, who was born in Bangor in 1800. 
followed him July 20, 1871. Mr. Webster was a 
member of the Board of County Commissioners in 
1838 and 1841. He built the large house on the 
island, in which he lived for many years, in 1834. 

Capt. Francis Wyman, a native of Phippsburg, Me., 
came to Orono in 1792 or 1793. He married Mar- 
tha, daughter of Andrew Webster, and settled on the 
Upper Stillwater road, on the farm now occupied by 
his son Elijah, and where he died February, 1857. 

Archibald McPiietres was of Scotch descent. He 
moved from Arrowsic, in the present County of Sag- 
adahoc, to Bangor, in 1771, and in 1795 settled in 
Orono, on the Bangor road. His sons were Archibald, 
Charles, William, James, and John. Charles lived in 



<^ ORONO CENTENNIAL. 

Bangor, but the other sons were residents of this 
town. The name is sometimes spelled " McPheadris." 
There was a prominent merchant of this name in 
Portsmouth, N. H., in the last century, and I am in- 
clined to think that the Orono family were, not re- 
motely, connected with his* 

Wm. Duggans was a very early settler in town, and 
had a house a little off from the Bangor road, below 
the farm of John Read. He moved from town a 
quarter of a century ago. He was here before 1800, 
and first lived on the place owned by David McPhe- 
tres, this side of the " Mac Brook." 

There were Spencers in town at a very early day, 



*Mr. Aldrich, in his paper in Harper's Magazine, entitled "An Old 
Town by the Sea," has the following notice of the Portsmouth merchant : 
" On the corner of Daniel and Chapel streets stands the oldest brick build - 
ing in Portsmouth— the Warner house. It was built in 1718 by Capt. 
Archibald Macpheadris, a Scotchman, as Ins name indicates, a wealthy 
merchant, and a member of the King's Council. He was the chief projector 
of the first iron works established in America* Capt. Macpheadris mar- 
ried Sarah Wentworth, one of the sixteen children of Gov. John Went- 
worth, and died in 1729, leaving a daughter, Mary, whose portrait, with 
that of her mother, painted by the ubiquitous Copley, still hangs in one of 
the parlors of this house, which, oddly enough, is not known by the name 
of Macpheadris, but by that of his son-in-law, Hon. Jonathan Warner, a 
member of the King's Council until the revolt of the colonies." 

* James and Henry Leonard built iron works at Raynhaui, Mass., in 1652. 



ORONO CENTENNIAL. 73 

of whom, however, I have been able to obtain but 
little authentic information ; but among them was 
one of the name of Nathaniel, and to distinguish him, 
as he was a very short, small man, from another Na- 
thaniel who lived on the east side of the main river, 
who was a very tall man, he was called " Little Thaniel." 
It is related that he was a teamster belonging to a 
logging crew up the river, one season, and that, un- 
fortunately, it happened that the crew got out of rum 
during the winter and went dry for several weeks ; 
but when they could stand it no longer, little Than 
iel was despatched to Bangor for a supply. Return- 
ing with a keg of the indispensable, he arrived at 
the camp at night. Thirsty as the men were, they 
set to and pulled at its contents till almost morning, 
when they fell asleep and slept the sleep that knew 
no waking until late in the afternoon. Little Than- 
iel woke first and went out to the hovel to look after 
his team. He thought it morning, but the sun was 
in the west and not half an hour high. Alarmed, 
and hurrying into the camp, he cried out, " Wake up, 
my high fellows, shake your blankets, clatter your 
hoofs, daylight is cracking round your heels, the sun 



74 ORONO CENTENNIAL. 

is rising in the west, and the day of judgment is 
come ! " 

There were Spencers of still another family, 
some of whose descendants are in the town or vicin- 
ity, but I am not aware that there are any of the 
family of little Thaniel now living in your neighbor- 
hood. 

Ard Godfrey came from Taunton, Mass., in 1798, 
and settled on the farm on the Stillwater road near- 
est to the Oldtown line. He was a millwright, whose 
labor was in great demand, and who, when he desired 
to retire from his trade, handed it down to his sons, 
John and Ard, jr., and his son-in-law, Temple Emery. 
For many years he was Town Treasurer. He was 
respected for his pure and honest life, and thoroughly 
liked for his quiet and genial humor. He once 
shocked a good woman by making her believe that 
Col. Webster had stolen somebody's farm and hidden 
it in Capt. Wyman's cellar. Of his numerous family 
not one is living in this town. Rev. Alfred C. God- 
frey, an esteemed minister of the Methodist church, 
is his son. He died in 1843. His wife, whose maiden 



ORONO CENTENNIAL. 75 

name was Catherine Gaubert, and who was a niece 
of Capt. David Read, died in 1854. They had thir- 
teen children. Mr. Godfrey was elected constable 
and collector at the first town meeting in 1806 ; and 
the April meeting in 1807 was held at his house. 

The first mill at St. Anthony's Falls, Minn., was 
built by his son, Ard Godfrey, jr., who is now a resi- 
dent of Minneapolis. 

George Ring, senior, moved to Orono in 1800, and 
occupied the house built by Joshua Eayres, upon the 
removal of the latter to Passaclumkeag. His son, 
George, who is now living in this town, says that 
when his father came here there were twelve houses 
in town which he remembers — two were on the hill 
where Abram Colburn lives ; one, called the Griffin 
house, where Elijah Wyman's house is ; one on the 
Freese farm ; one, occupied by Mr. Read, near Mrs. 
Wm. Rollins' ; one, occupied by Wm. Duggans, this 
side of the " Mac Brook ; " one, by James McPhetres, 
on the other side of the brook ; one, by Joseph In- 
man ; one, by Capt. David Read, on Marsh Point ; 
one on Marsh hill ; one, by Antoine Lachance. 



76 ORONO CENTENNIAL. 

But there must have been other houses at that 
time in town, among them those of Andrew Webster, 
Archibald McPhetres, Samuel White, Capt. Tourtel- 
lotie, and others. Mr. Ring, the elder, was born in 
Georgetown, Me., in 1759, married Margaret Foster, 
who was born in Bath, 1763, and died in 1813, having 
survived her husband one year. George, the younger, 
born March 2, 1795, married Polly Lancaster, June 
29, 1820. 

For some twenty years previous to 1806, the peo- 
ple lived under an organization called Stillwater 
Plantation. 

It is said in Williamson's Annals of Bangor, of* 
which a manuscript copy is among the collections of 
the Maine Historical Society, and which seems to 
have been examined by Judge Godfrey, that this 
" place was first called ' Deadwater ; ' but one Owen 
Madden, a discharged soldier from Burgoyne's army, 
who had been stationed at Stillwater, N. Y., changed 
the name from dead to still, as a better sound. He 
was a school-master in Bangor and Orono. He was 
at times accustomed to drink intoxicating liquors to 



ORONO CENTENNIAL. 77 

excess, but he was well educated, and possessed a 
good disposition." 

The name was certainly an appropriate one, more 
particularly when applied to this village, as it soon 
came to be, to distinguish it from the village of Old- 
town. Since the division of the town in 1840, the 
name of the town has been sufficiently descriptive of 
the village — but the latter is sometimes called Lower 
Stillwater to distinguish it from the village, two miles 
up the river, known as Upper Stillwater. 

1S06— 1S20. 

On the 12th of March, 1806, the plantation was 
made a town by an act of the Legislature of Massa- 
chusetts, entitled " An Act to incorporate the Planta- 
tion heretofore called Stillwater, in the County of 
Hancock, into a Town by the name of OronoT 

Williamson, referring, about 1830, in his History 
of Maine, to the event, says: "It is the 162d town 
in the State of Maine ; taking its name from a dis- 
tinguished chief of the Tarratine tribe, whose friend- 
ship to the cause of American liberties gave him an 
elevated place in the public estimation. It is an 



78 ORONO CENTENNIAL. 

excellent township of land — embracing Marsh Island, 
also Indian " OldtownJ' the village of the Tarratine 
natives. ... It is peculiar for its mill-sites and water 
privileges, which are extensively improved." 

No census of the town had been taken previous 
to its incorporation, but it is supposed that its popu- 
lation at that time was not far from three hundred. 
The first meeting for choice of officers after the town 
was incorporated was called by Richard Winslow, 
Justice of the Peace, by a warrant dated March 27, 
1 80G, directed to Andrew Webster, as constable. It 
was held at the dwelling-house of Capt. David Read, 
April 7, 1806. At this meeting Aaron Bliss was 
elected Town Clerk ; Richard Winslow, Moses Averill, 
and John Read, Selectmen ; Andrew Webster, Treas- 
urer ; and Ard Godfrey, Constable and Collector. Mr. 
Winslow resided at Olcltown, Mr. Averill at Upper 
Stillwater, Messrs. Read, Webster, and Godfrey in 
the part of the town that is now Orono. 

Allen Bliss, John Read, William Colburn, and 
Ebenezer Webster were chosen hog-reeves, fence- 
viewers, and field-drivers. Seventy-five dollars were 
raised by the inhabitants to pay town charges ; one 



ORONO CENTENNIAL. 79 

thousand dollars for highways, but nothing for schools. 
However, they voted to build three pounds, and fence 
the cemetery. Having made these provisions to 
prevent the straying of cattle and the dead, they 
seem to have thought it reasonable to let the children 
run at large. 

State officers were voted for on this day, and 
James Sullivan, the Republican candidate for Gov- 
ernor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, 
received forty votes, to five for Caleb Strong, the 
candidate of the Federalists. 

At the third meeting held in the town — Nov. o, 
1806, at the dwelling-house of Andrew Webster — it 
was voted to petition the Court of Common Pleas to 
send a committee to lay out a road from Bangor to 
Mr. John Marsh's house — also, to pay Mr. Bennoch's 
bill of $5.62 for powder consumed at the general 
muster. 

At the fourth meeting — April 6, 1807, at the house 
of Mr. Ard Godfrey — on the question whether the 
District of Maine should be separated from Massa- 
chusetts, there were thirty-seven votes for, and one 
against, separation. 



80 OBONO CENTENNIAL. 

This year of new departure was signalized by an 
accession to the material and social forces of the 
town, the influence of which upon its development, 
and on the habits and manners of the people, is felt 
to the present time. It was in August, 1806, that 
the late John Bennoch came, with his family, to this 
town, with the purpose of making it his permanent 
residence. 

Mr. Bennoch was born in the parish of Durrisdeer, 
in the shire of Dumfries, in Scotland, on the 24th of 
November, 1760. His father, Archibald Bennoch, 
occupied at the time when John was born, a farm 
called Wierhead, on the estate of Lord Ellioch. Not 
long afterwards he kept a small shop in company 
with David Kennedy, where they bought woolen 
yarn, at that time spun in the country, and sent it 
to Kilmarnock, where they sold it to the carpet man- 
ufacturers. His father, when John was eight years 
old, took a farm of Lord Ellioch, called Nether Glen- 
gary, in the parish of Sanquhar, but in two years 
thereafter he died, leaving a widow, five children, 
and a considerable estate. The trade in yarn was 
continued by the widow, with the assistance of her 



0X0 NO CENTENNIAL. 81 

son, John ; but soon misfortunes came upon the fam- 
ily. The war with America had done much to injure 
their trade, and the failure of the firm with which 
they did business, reduced Mrs. Bennoch from com- 
petency to comparative poverty. After this, young 
Bennoch engaged in the manufacture of carpets, but 
not succeeding as well as he expected in this business, 
he came to America, arriving in Boston July 14, 1793. 
Having become acquainted, through the old house 
of Saxon & Wainwright, with the crockery ware 
trade, he established himself in that line, and for 
several years transacted a large and profitable busi- 
ness, which from 1798 to 1804 was conducted by the 
firm of Bennoch & Bedford, during which time Mr. 
Bennoch resided in Liverpool, where he had the 
charge of the purchases of the firm. 

From an autobiographical sketch written in 1838, 
1 have made an extract which I think you will be 
glad to hear read, on account of the facts which it 
contains, and from your interest in the writer. 

Says Mr. Bennoch, " When I came to Orono I went 

into a very small house on the southerly end of 

Marsh Island, where Mr. Harrison (James Harrison. 
6 



82 ORONO CENTENNIAL. 

of Charlestown, Mass.) and I had bought eighty-four 
acres of land with a double saw-mill, on the point of 
the island on the Stillwater branch of the Penobscot 
river ; there were then but a very few houses in 
Orono, and, indeed, not more than ten on both sides 
of the Kenduskeag stream, where the dense part of 
the city of Bangor is now built, and the roads were 
such that it was difficult to go from Bangor to Old- 
town (in Orono), even on horse-back. In about 
eleven months after I came to Orono I lost a fine 
boy of between three and four years of age, and in 
about four months more lost my dear wife by con- 
sumption, and was left with three children. . . . 

"The object in coming to the eastward was to 
keep a store and have a saw-mill to saw the logs we 
might get" (Mr. Harrison was a partner) " in pay- 
ment for goods, and ship to Boston, the West Indies, 
&c. But, soon after, the war between England and 
France drew the United States gradually into the 
vortex, bringing about non-intercourse, embargo, 
and, at last, war with England. This made the price 
of lumber very low, and, although I sold a good many 
goods, they were all sold on credit, and those who 



ORONO CENTENNIAL. 83 

bought them depending on the lumber they cut and 
brought down the Penobscot to pay for them, could 
not pay, so that before the peace I lost a good many 
thousand dollars by bad debts. 

"On the 26th of March, 1809, I married Miss Lu- 
cretia Holland. She was about twenty years younger 
than I; but she made me a most kind and affection- 
ate wife, and as good a step-mother to my first wife's 
children as it was possible they could have, and they 
loved her as well as they could have loved their own 
mother. My second wife was born in Belch ertown, 
Massachusetts, and was a daughter of Park Holland, 
Esquire, an officer in the Revolutionary war, and for 
a number of years employed by the Commonwealth 
in the care of Eastern lands before the separation of 
Maine from Massachusetts. 

" In September, 1827,1 was chosen a member of 
the State Legislature for the class composed of Ban- 
gor, Orono, Dutton (now Glenburn), and Sunkhaze 
(now Milford). And here I cannot omit a circum- 
stance which had a great influence on my future life, 
and which will also show how much good a wife can 
do when her influence is properly directed. 



84 ORONO CENTENNIAL. 

" Drinking ardent spirits had been, prior to this 
time, very common, or even fashionable, with all 
classes of society. 

" My wife, I knew, was mnch opposed to all spirit- 
drinking, although she scarcely ever said any- 
thing to me about it, and what little she said was in 
very gentle hints. And, although not a drunkard, I 
was still convinced that I took more than I ought, 
and felt the habit creeping on gradually, and that its 
force had gained such ascendency that the leaving it 
was a more difficult matter than I thought for. 

" About the time I started for Portland I found 
myself very short of money, and told Mrs. B. that I 
did not know that I could get enough to go there, to 
which she made some common-place reply. There 
being no stage at this time that run from Orono to 
Bangor, I had to go down the night before, so as to 
take the stage in the morning. In the evening I 
had occasion to open my pocket book, and was sur- 
prised to find in it twenty dollars, with a billet from 
my wife, saying that she had been saving this a little 
at a time, and as I had been complaining that I was 
short of money she thought that it might be of as 



ORONO CENTENNIAL. 85 

much service to me now as at any other time. So 
she had enclosed it and taken this opportunity to say 
that if I would reform in one thing, and what that 
was my own good sense would tell me, she should be 
the happiest woman in the world. 

" I still kept taking a little where the stage stopped, 
and at Brunswick I took a glass of brandy and water, 
when I said to myself, ' I will not take another glass 
of spirits till I return home.' This was in December, 
1827, and was the last that has gone into my mouth 
to this time — 1st July, 1838. . . 

"After my return home the Rev. Mr. Edwards (I 
think it was him) delivered a lecture upon Temper- 
ance, when I signed the pledge, and was President of 
the Society in Orono for several years. 

"I lived happily with my wife till the 28th of 
August, 1832, when she was removed to a better 
world, after upwards of a year of the greatest suffer- 
ing." 

Here the sketch ends. When I came to Orono at 
the close of the year 1834, Mr. Bennoch was a prom- 
inent and leading citizen, active in every good work, 



86 ORONO CENTENNIAL. 

whether it looked to the outward growth and progress 
of the village, to its educational facilities, or to its 
moral improvement. He was, and for many years 
had been, and for several years continued to be, a 
magistrate, and the postmaster of the town. He was 
an uncle of Francis Bennoch, of London, merchant, 
alderman, and poet, an intimate and esteemed friend 
of our great American author, Nathaniel Hawthorne, 
to whom Mr. Hawthorne's Memoirs were dedicated. 
Francis Bennoch visited his relatives in Orono some 
twenty-five years ago. 

By his second wife Mr. Bennoch had a large family 
of children, all of whom, excepting Agnes, the 
voun^est daughter, widow of the late E. Thomas 
Lobdell, Esq., of Hartford, Conn., as all but one by 
his first wife, — Josiah S., a resident of this town, and 
for several years a County Commissioner, and a Trial 
Justice, have passed away. 

From what was told me by everybody, when I 
came to Orono, about Mrs. Bennoch, she must have 
been a most intelligent and cultivated lady, whose 
kindly nature, affable manners, and lively interest in 



ORONO CENTENNIAL. 87 

the happiness of others, assisted in making their 
home attractive to all of kindred tastes, and the seat 
of a generous and graceful hospitality. 

Not long after Mr. Bennoch established his residence 
in Orono, he built the large house on the island which 
is still standing, and is known to the present day as 
the "old Bennoch house," where he laid out and 
maintained for many years what was probably the 
finest garden at the time in the county. Subsequently 
he sold this place, and, in 1823, moved to the house 
on this side of the river, now standing opposite the 
engine house, and where he died January 7, 1842. 

After the death of his second wife he was twice 
married ; his last wife, widow of the Hon. Reuben 
Bartlett, of Garland, survived him. A daughter, 
Lucretia Holland, who, it was said, greatly resembled 
her mother in person and character, married the 
Hon. Joseph Cutting. 

Mr. Bennoch's residence here attracted quite a 
number of his countrymen to this town, among whom 
I remember Dr. Daniel McRuer, the distinguished 
physician, recently deceased at Bangor — the brother- 
in-law of the latter, Peter Mclntyre, who had a store 



88 ORONO CENTENNIAL. 

near the foot of Mill street — William Irving and 
James McNerrin, farmers in the north part of the 
town — Charles Thompson Haley, who projected and 
built the aqueduct by which a part of the village was 
supplied with water from Colburn's ridge — Thomas 
McMillan, the capable stone and brick mason and 
genial man — John Dean, who for many years had 
charge of the Stillwater canal — John McDonald, the 
surveyor — and Daniel Fox, the millwright. Although 
he was not himself a native of Scotland, his father 
having come to this country before his birth, and 
although I have no reason for supposing that he was 
attracted to Orono by Mr. Bennoch, I am not willing 
to pass from this notice of Scotchmen without some 
allusion to a long-time resident, whose slight and agile 
form will rise before many of you as I mention the 
name of Moses Crombie. 

Major Crombie, who was born in Londonderry, N. 
H., October 9, 1764, moved from Bath, Me., to Orono, 
in 1829. His wife was Julia F. Morse, of Phippsburg, 
Maj. Crombie died July 17, 1854. He was a well- 



ORONO CENTENNIAL. 89 

read and intelligent man, of decided opinions. The 
older members of the Penobscot bar have not forgot- 
ten his rape of the Revised Statutes while serving as 
foreman of the Grand Jury in the old Court of Com- 
mon Pleas at Bangor — an audacious act, that quite 
dumfoundered the presiding Judge, who, in response 
to the indignant protest of the State's Attorney, 
could only find breath and words to say, in a tone of 
mingled amazement and despair, as the Major, bow- 
ing his head and cocking his eye, passed from the 
court-room — ''He's gone ! " The dismay of the attor- 
ney, the despair of the Judge, and the archness of 
the Major, as described by an eminent member of 
the bar, afterwards, on different occasions, an hon- 
ored and beloved Chief Magistrate of the State, and, 
still later, for many years, an eminent Judge of its 
highest Court, who, as Thomas Hood said of Allan 
Cunningham, would " rise to a joke like a trout to a 
fly " — for his commanding talents and his unfeigned 
love of whatsoever was pure, and good, and true, 
were accompanied by a genial and most excellent 
humor — formed a picture which his brethren of the 



&0 ORONO CENTENNIAL. 

bar were wont to enjoy with a glee that was in no 
sense " counterfeited." # 



* Hon. Edward Kent. — This reference to Judge Kent revives old and 
pleasant memories, and I am tempted to record some of them in this note. 
What a Bar the county of Penobscot could boast thirty or forty years ago! 
Some of its members are still in practice in the county; there are upon the 
bench of our highest court those referred to in the address, and the learned 
and accomplished Chief Justice Appleton, who, happier than Lord Brough- 
am, knows everything, including law. Of the older lawyers, who were 
about ready to retire from the courts when I came to this county, and who 
have since passed away, I may venture to recall some impressions. Ire- 
member the manly form and pleasant features of Jacob McGaw, the early 
friend and correspondent of Daniel Webster, by whom he was visited in his 
Bangor home seventy years ago, a lawyer of the old school, patient, faith- 
ful, persevering, strong: Allen Oilman, the first Mayor of Bangor, a man 
of smaller frame than McGaw, but of not less intellectual power; keen, 
clear, incisive, and indomitable— if sharp of tongue on occasion, warm and 
generous in heart: William D. Williamson, lawyer, historian, and politi- 
cian — like the triune bear he has immortalized, three varieties in one char- 
acter: William Abbot, tall and angular in body, but of well-proportioned 
and symmetrical mind, and of incorrigible honesty: John Godfrey, sensible, 
diligent, and of unspotted integrity: Peleg Chandler, in immense top-boots 
and with cane in hand, the most noticeable form that walked the Bangor 
streets for many a year; his florid eloquence was especially dangerous to 
defendents in actions for breach of promise to marry, and against towns 
for damages by reason of defective highways: while among those who 
were then in the bloom aud strength of their years, but have since followed 
their seniors to the silent, land, were Jonathan P. Rogers, whose mental 
endowments were perhaps never surpassed by those of any son of Maine ; 
the master of principles and the consummate advocate, he was a born law- 
yer; with but slight aid from early education, no man that I ever heard 
speak possessed a style so close, so strong, and so pure; his addresses, 
whether to courtor jury, might be set in type without the change of a single 
word: George B. Moody, who was a careful and well-educated lawyer, and 
no "prentice hand" at writing political-convention resolutions, and a true 
gentleman withal, did not possess the sense of humor that shone so brightly 
in his brother in the profession— Thornton McGaw, a gentleman whose 
memory is a benediction, in whom strong and saving common sense, cult- 
ure, and exquisite humor were so admirably mixed that one could only see 
that while all these qualities were present in force, no one was crowded by 
the others: and there was another whom I cannot forget, whom it was al- 
ways good to see, and is now pleasant and profitable to remember, for his 



ORONO CENTENNIAL. 91 

From the incorporation of the town to 1820, its 
growth was slow and feeble. The population in the 
latter year was but four hundred and fifteen — only 
sixty-four more than it had been ten years before. 
While the population of the towns on the Kennebec 
and Androscoggin, and even of some in the western 
portion of this county, had largely increased, and 
while the best kind of farmers and mechanics were 
rapidly filling them, emigration came slowly down 
this way. There was little to attract it. There was 
some cutting, hauling, and sawing of logs, considera- 
ble shingle-weaving, and for the rest hunting and 
fishing, during these slow and unprofitable years. 



delightful companionship and his genuine manliness — Elijah Livermore 
Hamlin. But these brief reminiscences must not be left without some 
mention of the Judge in -whose court these gentlemen of the green bag were 
wont to fight their battles and crack their jokes, the Hon. David Perham, 
an industrious man of considerable reading and general information, slow 
of speech and impervious to humor; not free, perhaps, from the influence 
of prejudice, but thoroughly honest. The anecdotes and stories connected 
with the Court of Common Pleas during the quarter of a century or more 
that Judge Perham was upon its bench, are innumerable. One in which 
the legal wag of Oldtown figured, is remembered as these lines are written. 
The "general issue" having been pleaded in an action pending in the 
Court, the plaintiff's counsel, who was no other than our Oldtown friend, 
demurred to the plea. ''On what ground?" inquired the Judge. "Du- 
plicity, your Honor," answered the counsel — a response which provoked an 
ejaculation from the lawyer on the other side, and an audible smile from 
the gentlemen within the bar. " And may it please the Court," continued 
the counsel, " I beg to say that in this thing I am entirely serious;" to which 
the Judge— ".ft. r. Mr. Seicull, that will not do in this Court." 



92 ORONO CENTENNIAL. 

4 

One thing that affected this section of the State un- 
favorably, and from which, owing to the size and ex- 
cellent navigation of its noble river, it suffered more 
than any other, was the war of 1812. The occupa- 
tion of Castine by the British, the consequent block- 
ade of business on the river above, and the constant 
danger of irruptions by the enemy, had a most dis- 
astrous effect upon the fortunes of this and neighbor- 
ing towns. 

The British at one time, it will be remembered, 
were at Hampden and Bangor. At the former place 
there was a battle, in which Orono was represented 
by a company of militia, under . the command of 
Capt. (afterwards Col.) Ebenezer Webster. It is 
said to have been the last company to leave the field, 
and that it received the order to do so with intense 
disgust. 

During all this period the Stillwater river was 
crossed by a ferry, and it was not till several years 
later that a bridge was built over it. The roads were 
few and rough. The schools were of the most prim- 
itive kind, and religious meetings were held in school- 
rooms and dwelling-houses — chiefly by the Metho- 



ORONO CENTENNIAL. 93 

dists. There was neither lawyer nor doctor living in 
the town in all this time. The first school-house was 
built in 1815, and was near where the late Mr. Sam- 
uel White lived on Pleasant street. It was after- 
wards burnt. In 1810 the number of polls in town 
was one hundred — the valuation of estates was $24,- 
690.30. In Bangor, the same year, the polls were 
267, and the estates $132,998.50. 

The first tavern in town was kept by Perez Graves, 
and was opened in 1812, in the house afterwards 
owned by Mr. Bennoch. The stone mill — now 
owned by Col. Eben Webster, jr., was rebuilt in 1817. 
A mill known as the Greeley mill, was built by John 
Gordon as early as 1804 or 5. It was not far from 
the site of the Union mills. 

Jackson Davis was a delegate from this town to 
the Convention, held at Portland in 1819, to form a 
Constitution for the new State of Maine. He lived 
at Oldtown. 

1820—18.10. 

During this time better progress was made than 
had been at any earlier period. The census of the 



94 ORONO CENTENNIAL. 

latter year gave a population of 1473 — an encourag- 
ing increase. The town had certainly taken a new 
start. Good farms, here and there, were beginning 
to appear ; new roads were opened, and old ones 
made better. The immediate neighborhood was rap- 
idly recovering from the effects of the war. Mr. 
White and others extended their lumbering opera- 
tions. New stores were opened. Cony Foster, from 
Augusta, strengthened by the capital of his father- 
in-law, Benjamin Brown, of Vassalboro', built a large 
store on Main street, and a handsome residence, in 
which, after a lapse of nearly half a century, he is 
now, at a ripe old age, living — I wish I could say in 
the enjoyment of good health. 

Asa W. Babcock, also from Augusta, a brother- 
in-law of Mr. Foster, settled here in the same 
year ; and the results of his enterprise, and of the 
capital which he controlled, were soon felt in the 
business of the town. Large saw-mills were erected 
on the Babcock and Bennoch darns. For a term of 
ten years, and until he was disabled by physical in- 
firmity, Mr. Babcock was more extensively engaged 
in the lumbering trade, and especially in its manu- 



OBONO CENTENNIAL. 95 

facture, than any other man in the town, and was 
scarcely rivalled in the county or State. He died in 
Bangor, 1872. He built, and occupied for many 
years, the house on Main street, now owned and oc- 
cupied by James Webster, Esq. 

Col. Ebenezer Webster built, in 1827, the large 
house on the island (lately remodeled and improved), 
in which he resided so long, where his son, Paul D. 
Webster, now lives. In the same year William and 
Jeremiah Colburn erected the commodious residence 
which was for so long a period their home. 

In 1824 John Read built the tavern house on Main 
street, afterwards called the Stillwater Exchange. He 
was the first landlord in the house, and was succeed- 
ed, in 1830, by John R. Greenough, who was followed, 
in 1833, by the late Thomas Whitney, a native of 
Lisbon, Me. Mr. Whitney owned the property, and 
was the keeper of the hotel for many years. He 
died in Orono, June 5, 1858. 

On the 13th of February, 1826, John Bennoch, of 
Orono, and Thomas A. Hill and Mark Trafton, of 
Bangor, were authorized by the Legislature to erect 
a bridge over the Stillwater branch of the Penobscot 



96 ORONO CENTENNIAL. 

river. The bridge was built in that year. It was an 
uncovered structure, and was carried away by the 
ice April 1, 1831, but was replaced the. same year by 
the bridge that is now standing. Your fellow-citizen, 
Edward R. Southard, the well-known millwright, had 
the charge of the construction of the last-named 
bridge. 

The Stillwater Canal Co. was chartered July 6, 
1828. It was intended for the passage of rafts from 
Upper Stillwater, and above, to the Penobscot river 
below Ayres' Falls. It was not opened for the whole 
distance until 1835, though a part of it had been 
previously used. Ludo Thayer, of Portland, was one 
of the contractors, and moved to this town about 
1832, and built the brick house now owned by John 
W. Mayo, Esq. 

In 1826 Jonas Cutting, attorney at law, opened 
an office in the village. He was a native of Croydon, 
New Hampshire, and a graduate of Dartmouth Col- 
lege, where he had Rufus Choate for a tutor. Mr. 
Cutting was a careful and thorough lawyer, who, to 
the patience of detail, added a firm and intelligent 
grasp of principles. lie remained here five or six 



ORONO CENTENNIAL. 97 

years, and then removed to Bangor, where he took 
high rank in his profession, and became, in 1854, a 
Judge of the Supreme Judicial Court, a position 
which he now occupies. 

Jeremiah Perley, author of the " Maine Justioe," 
and other legal manuals, practiced law in this town 
for several years. He was a well-read attorney and a 
good citizen, but was destitute of some of those ele- 
ments of the successful lawyer which were destined 
to make his neighbor, Mr. Cutting, one of the fore- 
most counsellors in the State. 

The first physician in town of whom I have re- 
ceived any information was Dr. Daniel J. Perley, who 
afterwards practiced in Oldtown. The next was Dr. 

Stevens, who came from China, Kennebec Co. 

He was here before 1826, but in a year or two died 
of consumption. There was in town, for a year or 
more, Dr. Varney Farnham, who came from Alfred, 
in the county of York. 

New school-houses arose in different parts of the 
town. Religious interests were more attended to 
than they had been at any earlier date. Meetings 

were regularly held by the Methodists, who had be- 

7 



98 ORONO CENTENNIAL. 

come a pretty strong and well-compacted society, 
and by whom a Quarterly meeting was held in 1829, 
at the house of Mrs. Daniel Jameson. The Congre- 
gationalists were moving towards organization and 
consolidation, and had occasional preaching in school- 
houses and dwelling-houses by Rev. John Sawyer 
(who lived to the great age of 104 years), and others. 

For this term Orono was classed with Bangor, 
Dutton (now Glenburn), andSunkhaze (now Milford), 
for a Representative to the Legislature, and furnished 
the member for 1 824 in the person of Col. Ebenezer 
Webster, and for 1828 in that of John Bennoch, Esq. 

The most interesting and perhaps most important 
decade in the history of the town, was that to which 
I am now approaching, and which extended from 

1830 TO 1840. 

It was during this period that the great Land 
Speculation occurred. It commenced in 1832-3, de- 
clined in 1834, rose again and culminated in 1835, 
and burst in 1836. The growth of Orono at this 
time was fabulous, the population, which, in 1830, 
was less than fifteen hundred, rose, according to a 



ORONO CENTENNIAL. 99 

census taken by the Selectmen in the spring of 1836. 
to about six thousand, of whom nearly nineteen hun- 
dred were in this village. Bonds, conditioned for 
the conveyance of timber lands, of lots in Bangor, 
and in the villages in Orono, were in great demand. 
for which liberal, and sometimes very large, bonuses 
were paid, Retired capitalists, merchants, manufac- 
turers, old sea captains, and others, from abroad, had 
heard of the vast wealth of the Penobscot forests, of 
the countless millions of timber they contained, and 
of its marvellous quality. To own the bond of a 
township was to have an independent fortune, but to 
possess the title was " wealth beyond the dreams of 
avarice." This village, of course, had its speculators 
and bond-brokers, but they flourished better in 
Oldtown. The fortunes secured daily by trans- 
actions of this kind in that enterprising village 
passed any marvels that we read of in the Arabian 
Nights Entertainments. About that time wolf skins 
for sleigh robes came in fashion in this vicinity, and 
a man's fortune, or the number of bonds he held, 
was ordinarily gauged by the number and length of 
the wolves' tails that hung over the back of his sleigh. 



100 OEONO CENTENNIAL. 

Stillwater, as this village was then called, did well in 
this line, Bangor better, but Oldtown beat the world 
When the fever was at its highest, one of her promi- 
nent citizens and speculators visited New York, put- 
ting up, of course, at the Astor House, then the great 
hotel of the country. On presentation to him, when 
he was about to leave, of his hotel bill, which was 
$80, he passed to the cashier a hundred dollar note, 
and when the latter tendered back the excess, he was 
promptly informed that they did not " take change 
down east." 

Of course, when the woods above contained such 
vast and exhaustless wealth, the points below, where 
the lumber would be manufactured and shipped, as- 
sumed great importance. Lots in this village rose to 
city prices, and the man who did not own or had not 
given a bond of village property was of very little 
account. Robert M. N. Smyth, otherwise called 
" The Roarer," a noted speculator, had formed a joint 
stock company, with Massachusetts capitalists as 
trustees and stock-holders, and purchased Eayres' 
Island and several hundred acres of land, embracing, 
with the exception of a few lots, all the territory east 



ORONO CENTENNIAL. 101 

of Main street, from Pine street to the farm of Stephen 
Page, as well as the Union Mills and the power at 
Eayres' Falls. The company, which was styled 
The Bangor Lower Stillwater Mill Company, sur- 
veyed this large tract and laid it out in city plots 
— house lots, store lots, factory lots, water lots, 
etc. ; and having reserved the best of them to itself, 
offered the rest at a public auction, held under 
an immense tent on Broadway, in June, 1836 
The sale was advertised in New York, Boston, Prov- 
idence, Portland, and Bangor, and many people from 
far and near came to attend it. It was a beautiful 
day, and while the auctioneer was knocking down 
lots (50 feet by 100) in Mr. Colburn's field, at from 
$500 to $1000 each, the caterer, imported from 
New York, was still more busy in passing out crack- 
ers, cheese, and other appetizing edibles, to the at- 
tendant multitude, and pouring champagne from the 
original bottles into huge wash tubs, from which each 
man helped himself at his own SAveet will. These 
were the flush days of Orono. There were twenty- 
five retail shops in the village in 1836. Thomas 
Whitney was proprietor of the old tavern ; James 



102 OEONO CENTENNIAL. 

Lord, successor of Aaron Holbrook, was landlord of 
the Stillwater Hotel, kept in the present Bank build- 
ing. He was, as one of his guests told him on a 
convivial occasion, a " very good landlord, but a con- 
founded homely man." He furnished the dinner on 
the occasion of the memorable celebration of the 
Fourth of July, 183G. Advardis Shaw was, about that 
time, keeping tavern in an old, two-story, low, long, 
raking house on the south side of Mill street, near 
the foot. If those old walls could be restored and 
find a tongue, what " unco " tales they could tell ! 
They might, perhaps, if in garrulous mood, rehearse 
the story of that midnight session, at which was 
taken down in clerkly hand the fatal testimony that 
led to the removal from office of a high official, whose 
too special attention to one of the witnesses sum- 
moned in the great conspiracy case of Rines, Bur- 
lingham, and others, brought to him grief and shame, 
and loss of office. 

The Stillwater Canal Bank was incorporated March 
21, 1835. The corporation was organized and com- 
menced business in the summer or early fall of that 
year. Albert G. Brown was President, and E. P. 



ORONO CENTENNIAL. 103 

Butler, Cashier. It did but little business after 1837. 
Nathaniel Treat succeeded Mr. Brown as President. 
The Bank was wound up in 1841 or 1842; all its 
original issues were, if I remember correctly, re- 
deemed. The Stillwater Canal, incorporated in 1828, 
was opened for business in 1835. 

The Bangor and Oldtown Railroad, for which a 
charter had been obtained March 8, 1832, wasorgan- 
ganized in 1835; and before a blow was struck, its 
stock was sold at a premium of ten per cent. Rufus 
Dwinel, Ira Wadleigh, and Asa W. Babcock, were its 
chief promoters. Work was commenced in June, 
and prosecuted for a few months, when, owing to a 
defect in the act of incorporation, through which 
land-owners were able to bring suits against every 
man who worked on the track, the road was aban- 
doned. Meanwhile, the charter of the Bangor and 
Piscataquis Canal and Railroad Company, incorporat- 
ed February 8, 1833, under which the corporators 
originally intended to build a line of canal and rail- 
road from Bangor to the slate quarries of Piscataquis 
county, was bought up by Edward and Samuel Smith 



104 ORONO CENTENNIAL. 

and, under it, the old railroad from Bangor via Upper- 
Still water to Oldtown was built in the years 1835 
and 1836, and opened in the latter year. 

A charter for a Railroad from Bucksport to Milford, 
with a branch to Orono, was obtained in 1836. It 
was called the " Penobscot River Railroad." Several 
meetings were held here and at Oldtown village in 
the autumn of 1836, to promote its construction. 
Books for stock subscriptions were opened, and sub- 
scriptions to the amount of thirty or forty thousand 
dollars were made in this towm ; but, owing to the 
monetary stringency that commenced about that 
time, and perhaps other causes not now remembered, 
the scheme fell through. Col. Webster and Mr. Ben- 
noch were subscribers for stock to the amount of 
$5,000 each. 

A village corporation, for school and police pur- 
poses, and protection against fire, authorized by Leg- 
islative act February 16, 1837, was organized and 
kept in operation till the division of the town, when, 
being no longer necessary, as this part of the town, 
after the separation, was represented and controlled 



ORONO CENTENNIAL. 105 

by the village, it was allowed to go down. The vil- 
lage has at all times since the separation contained 
more than four-fifths of the population of the town. 

A joint stock organization, called the Stillwater 
Iron Foundry, was formed in 1835 or 1836, and built 
a foundry below the old Sleeper tavern, and not far 
from the Hammatt Mills. A Mr. Haley was the first 
manager, and was succeeded by Wm. G. Bent. A 
charter was obtained for the company March 21, 1838. 
In consequence of losses incurred by the failure of 
parties for whom it had done work, the company 
was compelled to wind up its affairs, after going on 
for two or three years. 

In the fall of 1837 there were changes in the 
Bangor Lower Stillwater Mill Co., and its property 
passed into the hands of a new company formed in 
New York, called the North American Lumber Co., 
of which the eminent Judge, Thomas J. Oakley, and 
the Hon. Stephen A. Halsey, were trustees. The 
Hon. Francis Baylies, of Taunton, Mass., was here for 
several weeks as legal adviser while the settlement 
and transfer were being effected; and when once 
they were accomplished, Moses Isaacs, an Englishman 



106 ORONO CENTENNIAL. 

from New York, perhaps the most accomplished ac- 
countant in America, was brought here and placed in 
charge as general agent. 

But the fates were against the company, the times 
were hard, money scarce, and lumber dull of sale — 
and no trustees, however honorable, or agents, how- 
ever able, could avert the inevitable doom. 

After the revolution and collapse of 1836-7, the 
population began to shrink, stores were wound up, 
goods attached and sold at auction, and a general 
prostration of business supervened. The lumber 
trade left those who were bold enough to engage in 
it to estimate their losses, rather than count their 
gains. In 1837 a" drive " of as fine logs as ever float- 
ed from the Baskahegan brought to the operators less 
than enough to pay the bills for manufacturing and 
running from the mills to Bangor. Money, during a 
part of the time between 1837 and 1840, was scarcer 
than it had ever been before or has been since ; and 
to add to the inconvenience, and even suffering, ex- 
perienced by the people, provisions, and especially 
bread-stuffs, were scarce, and ruled at prices dear be- 
yond precedent. Indignation meetings, to protest 



ORONO CENTENNIAL. 107 

against the high price of flour, were held in Bangor. 
I cannot, even at this distance, look back upon these 
cruel years without extreme pain. 

But. one good thing to Orono came out of this 
severe and protracted depression. While the people 
had little to do, Asa W. Babcock, Esq., and Capt. 
Samuel Moore, worked up a movement for a free 
bridge, and pushed it with such earnestness and en- 
thusiasm that the bridge was erected and made ready 
for travel in a few months. It extended from near 
the old foundry site on this side of the river to a 
point on the island not far from the terminus of the 
present railroad bridge. It was a great accommoda- 
tion to the people while it stood. It must be some 
twenty years since it fell. 

The causes of education and religion were cared 
for more than they had ever been before. Previous 
to 1834 a brick school-house was built on the island, 
and a large wooden one was erected near Josiah S. 
Bennoch's, the same now standing on Main street, 
near the Universalist church. 

The Methodist church, raised August 22, 1833, was 
built by David Balkam, and was dedicated in June, 



108 ORONO CENTENNIAL. 

1834. The Methodists had regular and constant 
preaching during this decade. Revs. Greenleaf Greely 
and Caleb Fuller were among the preachers stationed 
here. 

The Congregationalist church — Hugh Read and 
Israel Brown, builders — was erected in 1833, and 
dedicated in the spring of 1834. The Rev. Josiah 
Fisher was the first settled minister of this church 
and society. He was here as early as 1833, and con- 
tinued till 1835. After him the Rev. Wooster Park- 
er, now of Belfast, was the pastor. He came in 
1836, and remained about two years. Bancroft 
Williams and John Perry, Esq., were the first deacons 
of the church. Dea. Williams moved here from Au- 
gusta, and Dea. Perry from Brunswick. The Univer- 
salists had preaching but occasionally during this 
period, and had no organization. 

Prior to 1834 the lawyers in this village besides 
Messrs. Cutting and Perley, before mentioned, were 
John II. Hilliard, who came from Oldtown when Mr. 
Cutting left, and remained till December, 1833, Fred- 
erick A. Fuller, of Augusta, who resided in the town 
until about 1844, and then returned to Augusta after 



ORONO CENTENNIAL. 109 

a brief residence in Bradford, and Thomas J. Good- 
win, of Saco, who in a few months went to Passa- 
dumkeag. 

Nathaniel Wilson, of New Hampshire, a graduate 
of Dartmouth College, and who had read law with 
Hon. George Evans, of Gardiner, commenced practice 
in this town January 12, 1834, and has remain- 
ed here in the practice of his profession to the 
present time. On the 12th of December of the 
same year, Israel Washburn, jr., a native of Liver- 
more, in this State, opened an office in this village for 
the practice of law. Henry E. Prentiss followed in 
the autumn of 1836, becoming a partner with Mr. 
Washburn — an association which continued two and 
a half years, when Mr. Prentiss moved to Bangor, 
where he accumulated a large fortune, and enjoyed 
in liberal measure the confidence and respect of the 
people, by whom he was elected Mayor of the city, 
and on several occasions one of its Representatives 
to the Legislature. He died in Bangor, very sud- 
denly, in June, 1873. Aaron Woodman and Samuel 
Belcher were here and in partnership as attorneys 
and counsellors at law in 1836-7. Nathan Weston, 



HO ORONO CENTENNIAL. 

jr., of Augusta, eldest son of the late Chief Justice 
Weston, came to Orono in 1S37, and was for a season 
a partner of Mr. Wilson's. Maj. Weston was a pay- 
master in the army during the Mexican war, and was 
with Gen. Taylor at the battle of Buena Vista. Some 
time after his return to Orono he was elected Clerk 
of the Courts, and in a year or two moved to Bangor. 
His present residence is Newton, Mass. Thomas J. 
Copeland, from Dexter, was for two or three years, 
towards the end of this decade, a partner with Fred- 
erick A. Fuller. 

Dr. Daniel McRuer, a native of Scotland, who re- 
ceived his professional education in Edinburgh, estab- 
lished himself as a physician in this town in 1830 ; 
but in a few years he sought the broader field opened 
to him in the near and flourishing city of Bangor, 
where he remained in the possession of a large and 
successful practice until his death, a year or two ago. 
He was succeeded, during this decade, by Dr. Elihu 
Baxter, who had practiced in Gorham ; Dr. John 
Ricker, a native of Buckfield, but who had been in 
practice in Durham ; Dr. R. W. Wood, of Augusta, 
Dr. W. H. Allen, of Farmington, and Dr. Sumner 



ORONO CENTENNIAL. Ill 

Laughton. All of the foregoing, except Dr. McRuer, 
were in practice here in 1835. Drs. Baxter, Ricker, 
and Allen have been dead for several years. Dr. 
Wood resides in Honolulu, S. L, and Dr. Laughton in 
Bangor. 

In 1835 the good people of Orono were shocked 
by the first murder that had ever been committed 
within its limits — that of Reuben McPhetres by 
Isaac Spencer. The crime was perpetrated at the 
house of James McPhetres, on the Bangor road, 
next below the " Mack brook." Spencer was tried 
and convicted within a few months. 

From 1832 to 1841, inclusive, no other town was 
classed with Orono for Representative to the Legis- 
lature. Her Representatives were — 1832, Noah Na- 
son; 1833, Thomas Bartlett(Oldtown); 1834, Nathan- 
iel Treat; 1835, Samuel Cony (Oldtown); 1836 and 
1837, John Shaw; 1838, Ebenezer Webster ; 1839, 
Retire W. Freese; 1840, Abiel W. Kennedy (Old- 
town); 1841, William Ramsdell. 

The mills on the island end of the Babcock dam 
were built in 1832, and were destroyed by fire in 
1833, but were immediately rebuilt and extended. 



112 OJiONO CENTENNIAL. 

The Hammatt mills, Union block, Six-Saw block, 
adjoining the last named, the Perkins block, and 
Island block, and the first mills at the basin, were 
built between 1832 and 1838, and most of them in 
1834, 1835, and 1836. 

The closing year of this decade will be remem- 
bered as that in which occurred the border troubles, 
known as the Aroostook war. From your proximity 
to the city of Bangor, where the expeditions were 
fitted out, and from which they moved, as well as 
from the fact that all the men and munitions passed 
through your village, and that it was on the line of 
the company of videttes (extending from Bangor to 
Masardis), — whose members, if they did not " witch " 
our eastern " world with noble horsemanship," afford- 
ed an exhibition at which it gazed, and wondered, 
and smiled, — the excitement in town during the con- 
tinuance of the " war " was, as will naturally be sup- 
posed, high-strung and unflagging. 

Rumors of battles, of the approach of Mohawk 
Indians, and the bloody Bluenoses, were rife upon 
your streets, but yet were unable to stifle the sense 
of the ridiculous and quench the love of fun that 



ORONO CENTENNIAL. 113 

ruled the hour, breaking out now in disrespectful re- 
marks at the expense of the glorious company of 
videttes — and martyrs ; now in Otis Banks' offering 
a dollar for the head of Thomas Hill, a carpenter and 
Englishman, who was loyal to his native land ; and 
again, in sending a crowd of anxious patriots and 
wonder-mongers from Whitney's bar-room to my 
office, to see Gen. Wool, and where they were soberly 
introduced, by the graceless wag who had sold them, 
to Artegus Lyon, the colored man. But the war 
ended, and a brace of your own poetasters celebrated 
the scare and flight in which it begun, in a parody on 
Hohenlinden, which, as it may serve to renew the 
events and haps of that stirring (but somewhat ridic- 
ulous) time, I will venture to present to you. 

THE SCARE OF THE RESTOOK. 1 

On Restook when the sun was low, 
All bloodless lay the untrodden snow, 
Muffling the current, in its flow, 
Of Restook, rolling rapidly. 

But Restook saw another sight, 

The Rakerebo's 2 on their flight, 

And, following fast, with main and might, 

The Posse, 3 frighten'd dreadfully. 

• The Aroostook river is usually called " Restook " by the Provincials. 
1 A company of Oldtown lumbermen commanded by Capt. Stover Rines. 
» Posae Commitatus, from Penobscot county. 

8 



114 ORONO CENTENNIAL. 

Then Jameson 1 to old Ashbel 2 said, 
" Come pile your carcass on my sled, 
Far better so than be abed 
With Cushman, 3 in sweet reverie." 

Then shook the ice so hard and even ; 
Then rush'd the teams by Number 'Leven; 4 
And ere the clock had pointed seven, 
They left Masardis 5 speedily. 

But faster yet that band shall fly 
From Mohawk 6 furies, drawing nigh, 
Blue-nose braves, with fire in the eye, 
And Restook, rolling rapidly. 

'Tis morn, but scarce a weary man 
Will stop to drink from jug or can: 
With tucker'd legs and faces wan, 
They push for the Cumberlassie. 7 

Now, Posse, all your blankets wave ; 
You rush'd from glory and the grave; 
Your heels did well your bacon save, 
Your flint-locks and your toggery ! 

Few, few shall meet where many part! 
Of all that force no tremblinjr heart 
Felt British shot or Savage dart, 
Or found a soldier's sepulchre. 



1 John G. Jameson, of Oldtown. 

2 Ashbel Hathorn, of Bangor. 

sjudge G. G. Cushman, legal adviser, who, while asleep with Thomas Bartlett, at 
Fitzherbert's, near the New Brunswick line, was taken prisoner by the Blue-noses, 
and sent to Frcdcricton. 

* This is now the town of Dalton. 

5 The present town of Masardis— eleven miles trom Dalton. 

6 The report was that the fugitives were pursued by five hundred Mohawk Indian'' 
and New Brunswickers. 

' A small river at Centre Lincoln. 



ORONO CENTENNIAL. 115 

1840—1850. 

The first event of moment in this stage was the 
division of the town, and the erection of a new mu- 
nicipality by the name of Oldtown. After the rival 
villages of Stillwater and Oldtown had grown to im- 
portance in business and population, the inevitable 
jealousies and rivalries between communities situated 
as these were, broke out. They appeared especially 
at the town meetings in the spring, but were felt at 
all times. 

The separation was amicably effected, and was in 
the interest of convenience, as well as of harmony 
and good neighborhood. The two divisions of the 
old town have been excellent friends ever since the 
causes of difference were removed. 

The act of division and incorporation was passed 
March 16, 1840. At the census taken in the follow- 
ing June, the population of Orono was 1521, of Old- 
town, 2345 — or 3866 in both towns. In the division 
more than two-thirds of the territory was set off to 
Oldtown, leaving Orono one of the smallest towns in 
area in the State. The progress of Oldtown has 
been, as the enterprise and intelligence of its people 



116 ORONO CENTENNIAL. 

could not but make it, constant and gratifying. Its 
present population is between 4000 and 5000. By 
act of the Legislature of 1841, Orono and Glenburn 
were classed together for Representative, and Israel 
Washburn, jr., was elected in September, 1841, as 
Representative for 1842. 

But the number of Representatives having been 
reduced by an amendment to the Constitution, a new 
apportionment became necessary in 1842, and under 
the latter, Orono, Bradley, Edclington, and Clifton 
were made a class or district for the residue of the 
decade. The Representatives elected from Orono 
during this period were, for 1843, Isaac Sanborn; 
1845, Martin McPhetres ; 1847, Asa W. Babcock ; 
1849 and 1850, Nathan Weston, jr. 

Soon after the Presidential election of 1840 com- 
menced a gradual but slow revival of business in the 
country. In this neighborhood it began to be felt, 
in 1843 and 1844, in increased demands for lumber, 
our great staple, and in a moderate appreciation of 
timber lands. The impulse, quickening from year to 
year, became an active movement by 1847. The 
saw mills in this town were gradually coming into 



ORONO CENTENNIAL. 117 

the hands of residents, who, feeling a new interest in 
their work, labored with increased zeal and care to 
make their investments and labors profitable, and, in 
a large and most gratifying measure, they succeeded. 
The community, which for several years had been 
living under the burden of debt and discouragement, 
responded to the thrill of a new life. Debts were 
paid or compromised, mortgages discharged, and work 
and enterprises were engaged in, prudently, but with 
confidence. The business of the lawyers was well- 
nigh ruined, for, instead of seven or eight in the 
village, as there had been ten years before, there 
were now but four. But, while the lawyers decreas- 
ed the people increased ; so that when the time ap- 
proached for a new numbering, the population was 
well-nigh twice as large as it had been at the previ- 
ous census. 

Under this renewal the people grew more and 
more impatient of their want of railroad facilities ; 
the more numerous and able they became the less 
did they enjoy the sound of the whistle on the 
" Back Road," and they considered whether or not it 
was possible to obtain for their trade and personal 



118 ORONO CENTENNIAL. 

convenience the accommodations which a railroad 
would furnish; and so, in 1847, they petitioned the 
Legislature for a charter to build the Bangor & Orono 
Railroad. The charter was granted as asked for, 
August 7, of that year ; but in a year or two it was 
amended, so as to permit a road to be built to Mil- 
ford, under the name of the Penobscot Railroad. 

The movement encountered the active and per- 
sistent hostility of the back road, and, finding little 
support in Bangor, was unable for several years to do 
more than to keep alive and vigorous the purpose of 
the people to secure the building of the "shore road," 
as it was called, at the earliest moment practicable. 

In February, 1843, an organization was effected 
for building a Universalist church, and on the 24th 
of the subsequent August " The First Universalist 
Society in Orono " was formed. An attempt in this 
direction, made by John Bennoch, F. A. Fuller, W. 
C. Fillebrown, Esqs., Capts. Henry Sleeper, Ludo 
Thayer, and others, in 1836, was unsuccessful. 

A church was built in 1843-4, and dedicated in 
August of the latter year ; the Rev. L. P. Rand, who 
had been active in bringing the people up to the 



ORONO CENTENNIAL. 119 

work of organization and building, preached the ser- 
mon of dedication. Mr. Rand remained with the 
Society a year or two, but its first settled minister 
was the Rev. Henry C. Leonard, who came here in 
May, 1847. The Society has been since incorporated 
as « St. John's Parish." 

The pastor of the Congregationalist church during 
a part of this decade was Rev. John A. Perry, 
son of Dea. John Perry. Mr. Perry's connection 
with his people here continued, for several years. 
He was a faithful minister and good man, and was 
highly esteemed in the town. Mr. Perry has been 
dead for many years. 

Rev. John 0. Fiske supplied the pulpit for a season 
about 1842. He afterwards settled in Bath. Rev. 
Messrs. Hoadley and Clapp were among the clergy- 
men who preached to this Society between 1847 and 
1855. Among the Methodist ministers stationed here 

were : Revs. Moses Springer, Charles Munger, 

Higgins, Curtis, and Charles Scammon. 

The lawyers in town were Fred. A. Fuller, Nathan- 
iel Wilson, Israel Washburn, jr., and Nathan Weston, 
jr. The physicians were : Drs. John Ricker and Wm. 



120 ORONO CENTENNIAL. 

H. Allen. Dr. Niran Bates was in town for a few 
months. 

1850 TO 1860. 

Although the census returns disclosed a small de- 
crease of population in the ten years extending from 
1850 to I860; the number of houses occupied in town 
and the unquestionable increase of business indicated 
an error in the numbering of the people at the one 
time or the other. The population in 1850 was 2785. 

The Orono Bank was incorporated February 14, 
1852, and was organized for business the next 
autumn. Nathan H. Allen was its first, and Benjamin 
P. Gilman its second President, and E. P. Butler its 
Cashier. It was succeeded by the Orono National 
Bank, of which Mr. Gilman was the first, and Col. 
Eben Webster is the present President. 

The Penobscot Railroad, which had been organized 
in 1851, commenced work on its line in 1852. The 
town, under the authority of an act of the Legisla- 
ture, subscribed — in its corporate capacity — $25,000 
to its capital stock, and something over $50,000 was 
subscribed by its citizens. By the death of the first 



ORONO CENTENNIAL. 121 

contractor, the Hon. Horatio C. Seymour, of New 
York, and by the failure of the second, the construc- 
tion of the road was delayed ; and it was not opened 
to Orono until 1868, when it had gone into the hands 
of the European & North American Railway Co. 
The stock in the road, including that of the town, 
was sunk — but the road itself was finally secured, 
and became part of the great trunk line from Bangor 
to St. John and Halifax. Without the stock sub- 
scriptions and the partial construction of the road 
therewith, there can be little doubt that what was 
known as the back road — the Bangor, Oldtown & 
Milforcl Railroad — would have been built from its 
line to the Red Bridge, and thence into Bangor. If 
this had been done, there would have been scarcely 
the hope of a road to this village during the century. 
So, I think, and especially since you have paid the 
railroad debt to the last dollar, that you may well 
regard that investment as the most fortunate the 
town ever made. 

The High School house, a spacious and convenient 
structure, for the building of which the town was in 
a good measure prepared by two able and exhaustive 



122 ORONO CENTENNIAL. 

reports by the Rev. Mr. Leonard, as chairman of the 
School Committee, was erected in 1851, the building 
committee being Nathan H. Allen, Gideon Mayo, and 
Eben Webster, jr. 

In the same year the Universalist church was en- 
larged, so as to receive sixteen additional pews, and 
a clock and bell were placed in its tower. A par- 
sonage was built the same year. 

The Methodist church was renovated, and greatly 
beautified and improved, in 1859. 

The clergymen of the several churches during this 
period, were, Congregationalist — Revs. L. J. Hoad- 
ley, Clapp, and S. L. Bowler. 

Methodist — Revs. George Pratt, Charles Scam- 
man, A. Moore, S. W. Partridge, E. A. Helmershau- 
sen, John Atwell, and William Bray. 

Universalist — Rev. H. C. Leonard till 1855, Rev. 
B. B. Nicholas in 1856-7, and Rev. L. Barstow. 

The Lawyers were, Nathaniel Wilson, Israel Wash- 
burn, jr., Nathan Weston, jr. (till 1856), and Matthias 
Weeks. The last-named died September, 1857. 

The Physicians were, Dr. John Kicker, William H. 



ORONO CENTENNIAL. 123 

Allen, F. S. Holmes, Charles Alexander, and J. H. 
Thompson. Dr. Ricker moved from Orono in 1859. 

The town was classed with Glenburn for the elec- 
tion of a Representative to the Legislature, and the 
members chosen from Orono were — for 1853, Nathan 
H. Allen ; 1854 and 1855, Gideon Mayo; 1856, James 
Webster; 1858, Gideon Mayo; 1859, Hiram Joy; 
1861, Samuel Libbey. 

On the 16th of August, 1859, there died in this 
town a venerable and much-respected citizen, who, 
from his arrival in it in 1832, to the time of his death, 
was an active justice of the peace — as he had been 
for many years before in the county of Waldo — and 
for some twenty years its postmaster. I refer to Col. 
Samuel Buffum, of whom it was said in the " Bangor 
Whig," — "A magistrate of forty years' standing, he 
had probably tried more cases, cognizable under our 
laws by a justice of the peace, than any man now 
living in the State, and so manifest always was his 
desire to do right that it is believed he never made 
an enemy by an official opinion or act." 

Col. Buffum was a native of Berwick, and was of 
Quaker parentage. 



124 ORONO CENTENNIAL. 

1860 TO 1874. 

The history of this term reflects marked and last- 
ing honor upon the people of Orono, and describes 
events of encouragement and promise in respect 
alike to its material prosperity and growth, and its 
educational and moral upbuilding. 

It commences with the town in the civil war, in 
which her citizens united with zeal, and with a strong 
and unfaltering purpose, to render all the aid they 
could, through their young men going to the battle, 
their old men staying at home, providing means, and 
guarding the rear, and their women working with 
willing hands and loving hearts for the comfort of 
the sick and the wounded — to uphold the flag of 
beauty and of empire under which they had lived in 
happiness and in pride so long, and whose folds they 
had determined should never be dragged in the dust 
and mire of dishonor and defeat. Her quotas of 
men were promptly and cheerfully filled at all times 
when called for, by the voluntary enlistment of men 
whose record in the war was in keeping with the 
uncalculating patriotism which prompted the offering 
of all they had and were in the defense of an im- 
perilled country. 



ORONO CENTENNIAL. 125 

From the opportunities which I had of judging 
during the first two years of the strife, I assume no 
risk in saying that no town in the State did better 
work at this period than your own. 

Nor did she stop here. Feeling that the debt 
which she had so freely and generously incurred in 
the war, could be discharged most easily at a time 
when money was plenty and cheap, as was the case 
during, and immediately after, the struggle, owing 
to the enormous amount in circulation ; and that . it 
ought not be left to weigh upon the material inter- 
ests of the people in the future, she took measures 
for paying the debt as soon after it accrued as pos- 
sible, so that within a few months after the fall of 
the rebellion, every dollar of her debt incurred in 
consequence of it was wiped out. 

For this grand policy of wisdom and sagacity the 
people of this town deserve the highest honor. 

It was during this time that the Congregationalist 
and Universalist parishes repaired, remodelled, and 
improved their churches at very considerable ex- 
pense, making them more convenient and beautiful, 
and therefore better aids towards the upbuilding of 



126 ORONO CENTENNIAL. 

the Christian faith and the accomplishment of the 
Christian work to which they had been consecrated. 
The alterations and improvements on the Universal- 
ist church were in 1863 — on the Congregationalist 
in 1867. Besides these improvements, a handsome 
and convenient church was built by our Catholic fel- 
low-citizens, in the year 1867, at an expense of six 
or seven thousand dollars. 

On the 25th of February, 1865, the Legislature 
passed " An Act to establish the State College of 
Agriculture and Mechanic Arts," and in the month 
of January, 1866, this town was selected as its seat, 
and two large and excellent farms, situated on Marsh 
Island, were purchased by the town, aided by a gen- 
erous contribution from Oldtown, and granted to the 
College. 

Considering the locality of the College in its re- 
lation to the whole State — its proximity to the broad 
and fertile agricultural county of Aroostook, a county 
containing a larger number of acres of farming lands 
of the finest quality than any other five counties in 
New England — considering the different kinds of 
soil on the College farms, furnishing opportunities for 



ORONO CENTENNIAL. 127 

a great variety of experiments, and considering, 
finally, the surpassing beauty of its site, and its 
proximity to what I have ever regarded as beyond 
question the most charming inland village in the 
State, so far as outward setting of landscape and 
scenery is concerned, I think it must be universally 
conceded that the location of the College was fortu- 
nate and wise. I rejoice and triumph in the success 
which this noble foundation, under the auspices of 
its accomplished President and able faculty, has 
achieved, and in contemplation of the greater suc- 
cess which I see in the future that lies before it. 

May the utmost harmony and good neighborhood 
ever exist between it and the people of the town — 
for the help which in various ways each can render 
the other, if proper dispositions are cultivated, is in- 
calculable. 

The Orono Savings Bank was incorporated Febru- 
ary 21, 1868, and went into operation soon after, and 
has been eminently and justly successful in obtaining 
the entire confidence of the community. 

The population in 1860 was 2554, and in 1870 it 
reached 2888. 



128 OBONO CENTENNIAL. 

The roll of lawyers was changed between these 
dates by the removal of Israel Washburn, jr., to 
Portland, in 1864, and by the addition, in 1868, of 
the name of T. F. McFadden, who has since removed 
from town, and, in 1871, by that of Joseph C. Wilson. 

The death of Dr. Wm. H. Allen, which occurred 
January 29, 1863, deprived the town of an able 
physician and a much-respected citizen. He had 
been in practice in town for about thirty years. Dr. 
J. H. Thompson was in partnership with Dr. Allen for 
some time previous to the decease of the latter, and 
remained a year or more afterwards. Drs. Paul M. 
and Preston Fisher came here in 1863. At a later 
period Dr. F. W. Chadbourne was in town for a short 
season, and Dr. Edward N. Mayo has been here for 
several years. 

The Representatives from this town in the State 
Legislature since 1861 have been — 1862, Frank 
Hamblen; 1S64 and 1865, Gideon Mayo ; 1867, John 
H. Gilnian; 1868, Charles BufTum; 1871 and 1872, 
John W. Atwell; 1873, Eben Webster. Charles 
BufTum was a State Senator in 1870 and 1871, and 
the latter year was President of the Senate. 



ORONO CENTENNIAL. 129 

Since 1860 the clergymen settled over the several 
parishes have been — 

Congregationalist: Kev. S. L. Bowler, for six or 
seven years ; Rev. Smith Baker, jr., Rev. J. G. Leav- 
itt, and Rev. N. R. Cross, the present pastor. 

The ministers supplying for the Methodists have 
been: Revs. Benjamin Arey, Albert Church, G. I). 
Strout, J. W. Day, and N. P. Jewell. 

The pastors of the Universalist church have been : 
Revs. L. Barstow, W. W. Lovejoy, and Henry Shep- 
herd. 

For the Catholics the priests have been: Revs. 
James Durnin, John McFall, and the present pastor, 
Rev. John Duddy. 

Not only were the war and college debts extin- 
guished, and extensive and costly alterations and 
improvements in churches made, and a new church 
erected within this period, but in 1870 the last dollar 
of the debt for the railroad was paid, thus leaving no 
outstanding obligation against the town. 

But I will not delay you further by reference to 
matters of recent date ; — with these you are more 
familiar than I can be. But I will ask your indul- 



130 ORONO CENTENNIAL. 

gence, for a moment, while I recall a few incidents 
and occurrences illustrative of certain periods in 
your history, and of particular phases of character 
and humor which have given to that history a de- 
cided expression and flavor. There is no town so 
poor that it does not possess a life, manner, character, 
and humor of its own. If there is, it is not Orono. 

For many years previous to 1825 the town had 
been inclined to the party of the Federalists, and 
after that time, till 1829, its majority was rather with 
those who supported Mr. Adams than with the friends 
of Gen. Jackson. From the later date, it was for 
several years with the Jackson or Democratic party. 

But, in 1837, something like a Whig rennaissance 
seemed probable ; Edward Kent was elected Govern- 
or, and a Whig Legislature was returned. The suc- 
cess, however, was but temporary, as it rested rather 
upon internecine troubles in the Democratic camp 
than upon any positive increase of Whig strength or 
prestige. But Orono felt the influence of the move- 
ment, such as it was, and nominating for Represent- 
ative a popular and highly esteemed gentleman, an 



ORONO CENTENNIAL. 131 

enterprising citizen, and an old settler, elected him 
by a majority of ninety-one, in something like eight 
hundred votes. This victory was so unexpected, and 
so great a surprise to the Democrats, that it need not 
be thought strange if the Whigs were thoroughly 
excited and happy over it ; and to those who can 
put themselves in their place, the story that Major 
Henry Clay Wirt (a blind wood-sawyer, who had 
taken his name by act of the Legislature, in token 
of his intense Whiggery) jumped at one leap half 
way from the toll bridge to the bank building, and 
gave a shout of "Glory!" that was heard as far as 
the " Corporation " — will not be rashly disputed ; and 
they will be as kind as their principles will permit, 
to the memory of the genial and excellent President 
of the Stillwater Temperance Society, who declared, 
in the ecstasy of the hour, that he should "hold no 
man as in good standing in the Society who did not, 
on that occasion, 'take a little something!'" 

To say that politics ran high in town in those days 
is no mere figure of speech. The excitement which 
had long been increasing would culminate on election 
day. And yet this is to be said, that in all the heat 



132 ORONO CENTENNIAL. 

of the times there was never enough of bitterness to 
extinguish the good nature and love of fun that 
characterized the people, and in which they seemed 
to live as in an atmosphere. There were many 
" Frenchmen " in town then as now ; some from Can- 
ada and others from Madawaska — but on election 
day all ivere from 3fadawaska, for only such could 
vote ; and when the ballot of an undoubted Cannuck 
was received as that of a native of the State, born 
on the southerly side of the river St. John, the 
strategy often seemed to be enjoyed as much by the 
losing as by the winning side. 

Artegus Lyon, a Congo negro, black as the day of 
judgment, brought here by John Lyon, who pur- 
chased him at Rio Janeiro fresh from his importation, 
was allowed to vote in 1840, and when the objection 
of the Democrats had been overruled on the ground 
that as the law provided that an alien, upon being 
naturalized, must renounce all allegiance to the 
prince of the country of his nativity, and as it 
was clearly impossible for " Teague " to renounce 
allegiance to a State that might have no existence, 
and of which lie, at least, could have no certain 



ORONO CENTENNIAL. 133 

knowledge, and as a liberal construction, such as they 
were bound to give, in favor of suffrage, would re- 
quire that a condition which it was plain could never 
be complied with, should be waived or declared ille- 
gal, as the law did not require impossibilities — the 
Democrats, although at first dumfoundered by the 
decision, were so penetrated with the humor of its 
assumptions that I think they enjoyed it quite as 
much as the Whigs. At any rate, Teague's right to 
vote was never questioned afterwards. 

From the division of the town in 1840, Orono uni- 
formly cast Whig majorities until the formation of 
the Republican party, to which its adhesion — contin- 
ued ever since — was promptly given. 

As has been suggested, it was, in the u brave days 
of old," a town of infinite humor. Its facetia3, skil- 
fully reproduced, would make a most entertaining 
volume. The stories of its law suits would fill a 
portly chapter, for, like most rapidly growing places, 
and especially lumbering towns, it furnished a good 
deal of business for that useful but unappreciated 
class — the lawyers. There was, in 1835, the great 
case of Veazie vs. Wadleigh, in which was involved 



134 ORONO CENTENNIAL. 

the construction of the conveyance by Massachusetts 
to John Marsh of Marsh Island, and the title to 
nearly all the valuable mill property at Oldtown, a 
case in which Daniel Webster and Jeremiah Mason 
were engaged as counsel, and all the old settlers for 
miles around were summoned as witnesses to the 
United States Court at Wiscasset, where Park Hol- 
land discovered confirmation of the maxim that 
"like attracts like," as he witnessed the immense and 
continuous masses of pumpkin pie moving from the 
table in the direction of Esquire Johnson's head. 

About this time a suit was pending in the Supreme 
Court of the State, in which the title to the farm of 
Valentine Page, then occupied by Abram Reed, was 
involved. It was a suit in equity, John Bennoch, 
jr., pltff., vs. Joseph Whipple, deft, and, as Mr. Reed, 
whose testimony in the case was deemed important, 
was in failing health, his deposition in jperpetuam was 
taken. The counsel employed were Judge Cutting 
and the late Hon. William Abbot, of Bangor ; the 
Justices of the Peace and Quorum, by whom the de- 
position was taken, were Hon. Theophilus P. Chand- 
ler, then of Bangor, and now of Boston, and myself. 



ORONO CENTENNIAL. 135 

The place was the house of Reed. Opposite each 
other at the table were seated the lawyers and the 
magistrates, one upon a side, as if at whist ; Mr. Reed 
was partially reclining upon a bed, while Mrs. Reed, 
knitting-work in hand, with eyes and ears open, was 
sitting demurely in a corner of the room. Many of 
the questions asked were objected to as leading or 
otherwise improper, and the answers as illegal and 
inadmissible, and so earnest discussion of the points 
was carried on by the lawyers, when, upon one of 
the justices venturing to make a suggestion, the in- 
junction "No talking across the board ! " from a shrill, 
sharp, positive voice in the neighborhood of the 
knitting needles, brought the contest to a sudden 
close, and the parties to it to excellent humor. After 
this the caption proceeded quietly to the end. 

It was in 1834 or 1835 that a trial was progressing 
at Bangor, in the Court of Common Pleas, before 
Hon. David Perham, Judge, in which it became nec- 
essary to account for the disappearance of a flock 
of sheep, and an effort was made to identify them 
with a large number of carcasses that were found in a 
neighboring barn. An Orono man, who was on the 



136 ORONO CENTENNIAL. 

stand as a witness, was closely interrogated as to the 
number of bodies. He said there were "a good 
many." " But how many ? " asked the counsel. " 0, 
a big pile." " How big ? " " 0, as tig as the pen 
■place that fellow sets in up yonder? replied Dudley, 
pointing to the Judge. 

It was in the same Court, and before the same 
Judge, that Henri Van Meter, who lived for many 
years in the Dudley neighborhood, was terribly 
badgered by the counsel while he was being exam- 
ined as a witness. He had got so badly mixed up 
that the Judge thought he would help the poor Afri- 
can out of his trouble. " R, r, Mr. Van Bnren, was 
itr-r" — "Don't you say a word," expostulated Van 
Meter, turning to the Court with an expression mildly 
but earnestly deprecatory, " I have as much as I can 
attlncl to with these c/entlemen down here!' 

I remember the trial of some one whose name I 
am unable to recall, before a Justice of the Peace — 
Col. Buffum, probably — for stealing corn from the 
grist mill in this village, at which a witness, by the 
name of Smith, was examined by the counsel for the 
State. A light snow had fallen during the night of 



ORONO CENTENNIAL. 137 

the larceny, and the tracks of a man, leading from 
the mill, were seen in it. Smith had carefully ex- 
amined the tracks to find out if they were made by 
the prisoner, whose shoes had also been examined, 
and he said they appeared to him as if they were 
made by a " man who had about two bushels of corn 
on Ms back. ,y 

While the Bangor Lower Stillwater Mill Co. was 
in the full tide of life — in the summer of 1836 — a 
son of a Boston merchant, and large stockholder in 
the company, a rather wild boy, was sent down to 
Orono to be kept out of harm. One day he came 
into my office, under extreme excitement. " I want 
to know," said he, " if there is any law in this State ? 
I have been most shamefully abused, and I won't 
stand it. I was in a shoemaker's shop in Mill 
street, and they all set upon me, and old Johnson 
called me a (using an adjective of most dis- 
tinct blasphemy) fool, and now 1 want to know if 1 
can't make him jwove his words ! " 

A settlement was commenced between fifty and 
sixty years ago about a mile west of the Bangor 
road, of which the late James Dudley, who migrated 



138 ORONO CENTENNIAL. 

from Pittston, Kennebec county, was facile princeps. 
It was when I first came to Orono, a hamlet more 
populous than tidy, and more picturesque than 
esthetic ; and when I last saw it, it seemed to have 
held its own in these regards with remarkable success. 
It had not, at the earlier period, wholly sunk the 
name of New Guinea, to which the residence of Van 
Meter, the African, had given color of fitness, for the 
ruggeder appellation which it afterwards received. 
Dudley was proud to boast that his character had 
borne successfully the strain of judicial investigation 
— for when his truth and veracity were called in 
question before Judge Perham, only a minority of 
the witnesses examined were willing to dispute them. 
It was a triumph — not merely negative, but positive 
— and which added something to the man's happi- 
ness every day of his subsequent life. That this 
attack upon our west-side leader was without justifi- 
able grounds I have never doubted. 

Dudley was an important man at elections, and he 
knew it, and bore himself upon these occasions like 
the oligarch he was. He carried so many voters 
with him that the saying became proverbial, "As 



ORONO CENTENNIAL. 139 

goes Dudley so goes Orono." Upon which side his 
influence would be cast was at times an anxious 
question by both parties for weeks, the answer to 
which was not uncommonly first indicated by the 
color, cut, or material of the second-hand coat which 
on occasion he would don even before election day, 
and which had long been familiar in the village as a 
part of the wardrobe of one of our ardent politicians. 
In social matters, too, our hero was a sort of head- 
center, and at his house the weddings of the neigh- 
borhood were wont to take place, and which were 
celebrated, if not entirely after " the Dorian mood of 
flutes and soft recorders," yet in a style in which 
strength and a certain robustness of manner were 
not wanting. It is related that once upon a time a 
young lawyer from the village was summoned to 
Dudley's to solemnize a union between Cupid and 
Campaspe, and that after the service had been per- 
formed and some eminently practical advice had 
been given to the young married folks by pater 
familias, a bottle of brandy was placed upon the 
table, and a pail of water from the spring — a deep 
tin pail — was brought in, together with a tumbler, 



140 ORONO CENTENNIAL. 

the only one in the house, and probably borrowed 
for the occasion, which was carelessly allowed to drop 
into the pail, where it sunk to the bottom, and that, 
in this dilemma the officiating magistrate was re- 
quested by the bridegroom to put his hand and 
arm into the pail and bring the goblet to the surface, 
which he did with a prompt and cheerful deftness 
that gave him unbounded credit in the company, 
and secured to him the neighborhood custom in the 
wedding line for a long time after. 

But I must not trespass longer on your time with 
these reminiscences, anil will now bring this too pro- 
tracted address to a close. 

This record of industry, struggle, and achievement 
which we have been examining to-night, is one of 
which no son or daughter of Orono need be ashamed. 
Reviewing it in these days of well-earned fruition — 
delivered from the war and its financial burdens, from 
the debts incurred for the Railroad and the College, 
and having seen the accomplishment of your wishes 
in regard to all ; having repaired, beautified, and 
extended your churches and school-houses; having 



OBONO CENTENNIAL. 141 

as a people been in these later days peculiarly blessed 
in basket and store ; grateful for so many favors, and 
rejoicing as you ought and do that your lines have 
" fallen in pleasant places, and that you have a goodly 
heritage;" having seen your town grow from a pop- 
ulation of 1521 in 1840, to more than twice that 
number in 1874, with a village numeration of not 
less than 2600 — you decided to celebrate the hun- 
dredth anniversary of its settlement by some token 
of grateful remembrance of the fathers and mothers 
who have lived and labored here before you and for 
you, and by some expression of your good will 
towards those who shall occupj' these homes of your 
care and affection when you, yourselves, shall have 
left them forever. 

That pious duty to the past, that benign prayer for 
the future, you chose to embody in no mere form of 
words, but, rather and better, in this substantial edi- 
fice, which, with its adequate and admirable accom- 
modations for the municipal officers of the town — 
for its Fire Department — and for the people at large 
in this spacious and elegant hall (in which I hope to 
see at no distant day a fit representation in the best 



142 ORONO CENTENNIAL. 

style of art of the great Chief in whose memory and 
honor their town was named), passes from the hands 
of the faithful committee under whose direction 
it has been constructed, to those of the constit- 
uency for -whose convenience and by whose liberality 
its walls have been reared, and by whom it is now 
formally consecrated to grateful and affectionate 
memories and to confident and elevating hopes, while 
it is dedicated to those appropriate uses by which 
the municipal, political, moral, educational, and re- 
ligious interests of the town and of all its inhabit- 
ants, may be best upheld and promoted. 

May it stand, the minister of good and not evil ; 
and when at some future day the prosperous town 
shall have outgrown its then too narrow limits, and 
shall demand ampler and grander halls, may its 
affairs be held in charge by those who shall honor 
the memory of their predecessors by replacing their 
work by another as well adapted to the requirements 
of the future time, as this is to the needs of the 
present ! 

Thus, friends, 1 have performed, imperfectly I am 
aware, but as well as, in the limited time at my com- 



ORONO CENTENNIAL. 4 143 

mand, I have been able, the part you assigned me on 
this the greatest occasion, since its settlement, in the 
history of your town. It has been to me a labor of 
love and gratitude ; for — if you will excuse a word 
personal to myself which my feelings will not allow 
me to suppress — I cannot forget that for thirty years 
this was the place of my residence, or that from the 
time when I came here, just out of my minority, 
unknown save by a single family connection — that 
of the late Hon. Benjamin Brown, of Vassalboro', for 
whose kindly and unwearied interest and friendship 
I am happy at this time to make my heartfelt ac- 
knowledgments — to the day when my circumstances 
rather than my will carried me to another home — it 
was my good fortune to enjoy a measure of favor 
and consideration above any claim of deserving that 
I could make,— an earnestness and constancy of friend- 
ship that sustained, defended, and held me round, at 
all times and seasons — and most when most I needed 
— whether in the course of my professional life in 
your midst, or on that wider field of the public serv- 
ice to which, very largely through your favoring in- 
fluence, I was called for so many years. 



144 OEONO CENTENNIAL. 

For these manifold and unfailing kindnesses — 
deepened by their perpetual association with the 
memory of a gift the most precious my life has 
known or can know, — and for the honor you have 
done me in the invitation to address you on this 
occasion, I make not merely the return of the poor 
performance of this hour, but the tender of the pro- 
foundest thanks of a heart which warms in all its 
recesses to the prosperity, the honor, and the happi- 
ness of this beautiful town. 



I A'../, to p. 30.] 

From an article prepared for the Massachusetts Historical collections 
(published in vol. 9,3d Series, 1846), by the late Hon. ffm. D. Williamson, 
i>i' Bangor,— to whose researches and investigations in reference to matters oi 
historical interest, the people of Maine are under great and lasting obliga- 
tion, — and which has come under the notice of the writer since the foregoing 
pages were printed, it appears thai there was, many years ago, a tradition 
on tlie Penobscot to the effect that Orono was born in York, in this State, 
about the scar Kiss, that he was stolen by the Indians in L692, and that the 
name of his family was Donnell. Judge Williamson, however, does not 
give much credit to this report, and assigns some pretty good reasons for 
thinking it not well founded. Abetter authenticated and more probable 
account makes him a grandson of the Baron de Castine and of his wife, 
Marilde, daughter of Madokawando. A daughter of ('astine and Matilde" 
married a Frenchman, and they were, it was supposed, the parents of 
Orono. But, if this be true, the birth of Orono has probably been ante- 
dated by Williamson by several years. He was horn pretty certainly prior 
to 1700. 

The following extract is from the article above referred to: 

"But whatever may have been the lineage or extraction of Orono, it is 
certain he was white in part, a half-breed or more, such being apparent in 
his stature, features, and complection. He himself told Capt. Munsell that 
his father was a Frenchman, and his mother half French and half Indian; 
hut who they were l>y name he did not state. Orono had not the copper- 
colored countenance, the sparkling eyes, the high cheek-bones, or tawny 
features of a pristine native. On the contrary, his eyes were of a brighl 
blue shade, penetrating, and full of intelligence and benignity. ... In 
his person he was tall, Straight, and perfectly proportioned: and in his gait 
there was a gracefulness which of itself evinced his superiority. . . . He 
was a man of good sense and greal discernment; in mood thoughtful, in 
conversation reserved, in feelings benign. . . . He was honest, chaste, 
temperate, and industrious, and a uniform and persevering advocate of 
peace. . . . To a remarkable degree he retained his mental faculties and 
erect attitude to the last years of his life. As he was always abstemious, 
and as his hair was in his last years of a milky whiteness, he resembled in 
appearance a cloistered saint His wife, who was a full-blooded native, 
died several years after him, and of his posterity it is only known that he 
had two children; one, a son who was accidentally shot about 1774, in a 
hunting partj , aged probablj 25; the other, a daughter, married old Captain 
Nicolar " 

Aitteon, the successor of Orono, committed suicide in Boston in 1811. 
( >rono's immediate predecess or was < »sson, ami before < >sson was Tomassus 
or Tomer, who was chief in 1754. 



ORONO CENTENNIAL. 145 



When Mr. Washburn had concluded, the band 
played Strauss' "On tiie Beautiful Blue Danube." 
The chairman then introduced the Rev. Henry C. 
Leonard, from 1847 to 1855 pastor of the Universal- 
ist church in Orono, who read the following original 
poem : — 

BIRTH-DAY CELEBRATION. 

What makes the day so bright and fair? 

No tempest could becloud its shine: 
What concord now so fills the air? 

No music here was e'er so fine. 

It is the joy of friends and kin 

In one dear home assembled all ; — 
The strain they play the house within 

While keeping birth-time festival. 

Before was here ne'er heard such mirth! — 
'Tis not for one once lost now found: 

But for the long since humble birth 
Of one through growth now safe and sound. 



From childhood we our birth-days keep, 
Where'er we dwell, whate'er our lot,- 

Or where our fathers sow and reap, 

Or strangers toil, who know us not. 
10 



146 OEONO CENTENNIAL. 

For what we are, is our estate: 
The gain within of added years. 

This, great or small, — we celebrate 
Our natal hours with smiles and tears. 

With smiles, because of battles won; 

With tears, because of battles lost; — 
Through both we see the Future's sun, — 

The joy which comes by pain and cost. 

Ourselves in one, behold the town! 

A child one hundred years ago; 
But now erect from foot to crown, 

And growing as the oak-trees grow. 

When settlers few with hardihood 
Here felled the pine, the forest's pride, 

And seined Penobscot's roaring flood, 
And fair Stillwater's elm-fringed tide, 

The dusky natives of the wild 
Oft met them in the forest path, 

Or where in smoke charred-logs they piled, 
Or shared with them the cabin's hearth. 

Where spread damp shade, now roses bloom, 
And waving grain and grasses grow ; 

In place of huts, fair mansions loom, 
O'erlooking far the river's flow. 

The woodman's axe now distant rings; 

Instead, is near the mill-wheel's hum, — 
The harsher strain the edger sings, — 

The quick-step march the gang-saws drum. 

And in like measure, stroke by stroke, 
The locomotive skirts the vale, 

Drawing beneath its plume of smoke 
The thundering train along the rail. 



ORONO CENTENNIAL. H7 

Above the plane of farm and mill, 

And force and speed of noisy train, 
The school and college guide the will, 

And tone the power of heart and brain. 

And highest in the town's behoof, 
The church, uplifting tower and spire, 

By truth, and love, and calm reproof, 
Calls doubt to faith and pure desire. 

Long live the town by faithful toil ; 

By learning's aid and Christian light! 
Be here no room for feud and broil! 

Long live the town in honor bright! 

After another piece of music by the band, the 
following ode, written for the occasion by Mrs. B. H. 
Mace, of Bangor, a native of Orono, was read with 
fine effect by Rev. Dr. Allen : 

ODE OF DEDICATION. 

The sounding Indian name itself unfolds 
A picture of the past: its utterance 
Rings with forgotten music. Savage scenes 
Before the mind, in shadowy vision, glance. 
Flame of the council fire— the warrior dance- 
Wild shout of victory, or wail of doom, 
Fill with weird sights and sounds the ancient forest gloom. 

Noblest among the braves was Orono, — 
A king by nature, just, and wise, and true; 
To his dark brethren faithful, yet at heart 
The white man's friend. With clear, prophetic view, 
Our larger work and destiny he knew. 
Worthy of honor— well do we bestow 
On this, his dwelling-place, the name of Orono. 



148 ORONO CENTENNIAL. 

Down yonder river sped his swift canoe, — 
These sheltering trees beheld his thoughtful mood ; 
Looking afar to our familiar hills, 
Perhaps at eve within his door he stood, 
And heard the voices of the singing wood, 
Or watched the dying crimson of the sky, 
And read his people's fate — lost stars of History! 

All this is past: the red man's shadow fades 
Before the sunrise of a mightier dawn. 
These homes of plenty and these fruitful fields, 
Yon spires that point to the eternal morn, 
Proclaim a race to nobler duties born; 
Prove that the century's plant has given flower 
To a superior age of progress and of power. 

New wants arise and aspirations new 
Enlarge the measure of our daily sphere. 
To higher ground we raise our longing view, 
New temples build and loftier structures rear 
For social needs, to social natures dear. 
And thus, to-day, within these walls we wait, 
The building, now complete, to bless and dedicate! 

And first to Culture of the mind and heart, 
Here Eloquence shall build her altar fires 
Erom themes heroic. Science, History, Art, 
Learning, from every age shall yield their part 
To kindle high ambitions and desires. 
Wisdom and Wit with friendly converse cheer, 
And Song her offerings bring from a diviner sphere. 

To Pleasure, too, we yield a welcome place; 
Here shall fair hands prepare the festival 
For scenes of beauty, gallantry, and grace; 
These columns wreaths of living green embrace, 
While mirth and music fill the echoing hall. 
Memory, in future years, shall backward gaze 
On shining moments here, in youth's enchanted days. 



ORONO CENTENNIAL. 149 

To Charity we open wide the door; 
Enter, Beloved of Heaven, and be our guest! 
Teach us to give, and giving, evermore 
A larger gift — and full libations pour, 
Each worthy purpose winning purer zest. 
Here let the feast be spread, the offering given, 
Whose record Charity herself shall bear to Heaven. 

And last we dedicate to Loyalty, 
And consecrate the vow with heart and hand. 
Over our heads the banner of the Free 
Shall guard the legend of our liberty, 
And watch the sacred honor of our land. 
On patriot words and patriot deeds look down, 
Flag of a glorious Past! A glorious Future ci'own! 

Father of all ! without whose guardian care 
The builders toil in vain, — the watchmen wait 
And count the hours in vain without the gate, — 
Let these fair walls Thy sheltering presence share, 
All to Thy higher will we dedicate: 
Building and builders sball return to dust, 
Our motto and our shield shall be — In God we trust. 



The Hon. John E. Godfrey, of Bangor, responding 
to a call by the President, spoke as follows : 

Mr. President and Citizens of Orono : 

I am under obligation to your orator for many 
facts, new to me, that he has presented this evening. 
And here let me say, that he may be assured that 
by his effort to-night he will lose none of his well- 



150 ORONO CENTENNIAL. 

earned reputation for industry, ability, and eloquence. 
He has requested us to take note of any mistakes 
he may have made in his statements. I beg leave 
to refer to one or two matters, in regard to which, 
if there are any mistakes, they are those of his 
authorities, not his. 

In my investigations I have been led to believe 
that what Capt. Weymouth called " the Bashebe," was 
a chief on the Penobscot bearing that name. The 
French, who were more intimate with the savages 
than the English were, and had far better opportuni- 
ties for becoming acquainted with their chiefs, and 
manners, and customs, invariably used it as a name, 
and not as a title. Champlain, Biard, L'Escarbot, all 
mention Bessabes, or Betsabes. Biard writes of the 
" Sagamo of Kadesquit, called Betsabes." L'Escarbot 
writes of Bessabes, who was killed by the English. 
That it is among our traditions that Bashaba was the 
style of an office does not alter the fact that it was 
not, but merely the name of a chief. 1 

I can hardly agree with Mr. Williamson that the 

liS* T. Hist. Mug., 2d, Sec. III. ,98, 249. 



ORONO CENTENNIAL. 151 

island called "Lett," by Penhallow, was Oldtown. 2 
Nor do I think it was in this neighborhood. My 
opinion is that it was Orphan Island [Verona], below 
Bucksport. The hundred Indians, with their fifty 
canoes, that Livingston and Castine saw, were on 
their way from "Winter Harbor, near Saco, to winter 
quarters, and had probably stopped there for rest. 3 * 
I presume the speaker is correct in the orthography 
of the Indian name of this locality, or Ayres' Island 
— "Arumsumhungan." I think, however, it was not 
pronounced as spelled. 

2 Hist. Maine, IT., GO. Penhallow' s Indian Wars, A. D. 1710. 
S N. 7. Hist. Mar/., 3d Sec, Vol. II. 

* Notwithstanding this opinion of Judge Godfrey, I am inclined 
to believe that the island of " Lett " was Marsh Island, and that 
the meeting was at the village on what is now known in this town 
as Marsh Point. In the first place, I think the travelers would not 
make so much of a stop as they seem to have made at Lett, at a 
place so near Castine as Orphan Island. (2.) I think it probable 
the place of meeting was at the first break in the navigation, which 
was at Ayres (or Arumsumhungan) falls, for, before the corpora- 
tion dam was built at Veazie, boats passed easily over the rapids 
and came to this place. Penhallow says, p. G2, " There were two 
English prisoners taken a little before at Winter Harbor. Two 
days after, one of the prisoners made his escape from an island, 
where he was hunting with his master, carrying with him both his 
canoe and gun, and left him behind; which so exasperated his 
master, that when he got from thence, and came where Maj. Liv- 
ingston was, he took him by the throat, with his hatchet in his 
hand, ready to give him the fatal stroke, had not St. Casteen in- 



152 ORONO CENTENNIAL. 

Rev. Daniel Little, of Wells [that part now Ken- 
nebunk], was upon the Penobscot as a missionary in 
1770, 1774, and 1786, and as an agent for Massachu- 
setts to complete a treaty with the Indians, in 1788. 
In 1786 he was at Orono ; he kept a journal. With 
your permission I will read an extract, from which 
you will learn how the name of the place was pro- 
nounced, and the object of his visit. 

"[1786, Aug.] 30. Set off from Capt. Brewer's 
[at Segeundedunk, Brewer Village] to a village at 
Mr. Colburn's. Dined at Mr. Noble's [Rev'd, at Con- 
deskge]. Conversed with 4 Canadian Indians at Mr. 
Treat's [below Penjajawock stream, near Mt. Hope], 
who waited to have their guns mended. Conversed 
with a squaw who understood English, who was a 
Passamaquoddy Indian. Lodged at Mr. Bradley's 
[Levi, at Treat's Falls]. 

"31. Had Mr. Bradley's horse to ride to Mr. Col- 



terfered." The island from which the prisoner made his escape 
was, I suggest, Orson Island or Oldtown Island. (3) There were, 
within my recollection, the marks of an Indian village near Marsh 
point. Here were not only the first rapids ahove Castine at which 
ranoe navigation was interrupted, but here was also a village. 
The Indians who met them were probably from their principal seat, 
live miles above, at Oldtown Island. 



ORONO CENTENNIAL. 153 

burn's, the uppermost settlement [towards the] In- 
dians. Hired a pilot, Mr. Lovejoy [the first settler 
on the ' Plains']. The horse Is., Pilot 2s., lOd. Set 
off a little after sunrise ; reach'd Mr. Colburn's at 9. 
On my way fell off my horse, and so bruised my right 
side as to be unable to stoop forward without pain. 
Unhappily found in the neighborhood of Mr. Colburn 
a young trader, Mr. Burley, who had been selling 
rum to the Indians as they returned from the Treaty, 
and rendered them unfit for conversation, which de- 
lays what the Indians reside here for. 7 families in 
this neighborhood, very poor and ignorant. I in- 
vited their children to attend the school to-morrow — 
prepare for an admission of the Indian children if 
they should send them." Now we have the name. 

"Sept. 1. At a place called Rumfeekhungus. 
Formed a number of children this day into a school. 
Called in some Indians that passed by to see manners 
of the school and the mode of reading and writing, 
who seemed to be pleased." 

This was, doubtless, the first attempt ever made to 
establish a school in Orono. It was not a success. 
Where neither teacher nor scholar understood the 



154 ORONO CENTENNIAL. 

language of the other, the task of teaching may be 
supposed to have been difficult. In addition to this 
difficulty, a French priest, Euthven, who controlled 
the Indians, interfered. It was not for the interest 
of the Roman Catholics to have the Indians taught 
by Protestants. On the fifth of September Wm. Lit- 
tle left the school at Rumfeekungus, and on the 
thirteenth, having been informed by the priest that 
the Indians had a grand council at " Passadunkee," 
on the eleventh, and " concluded not to have their 
children schooled by an English school-master ; they 
were jealous that their children would be taught a 
different religion," he abandoned the idea of re- 
newing it. 

Your orator has given you a sketch of the history 
of the great chief from whom your town derived its 
name, but he has said nothing about his hand-writing. 
Orono is not supposed to have been a great writer, 
or reader, even, but he had a signature. In my ex- 
plorations among the archives of Massachusetts, in 
the Secretary of State's office, some years ago, I 
found a letter, signed by Orono and other Indians, 
asking for the removal of the truck-master, Jedediah 



SIGNATURES OF TARRATINE CHIEFS MENTIONED 15Y JUDGE GODFREY , 

Nov. 22, 1775. 



HIS MARK 



Obono. 



Nextembawit. 




JOSEPHSUS. 



Alsoxsa. 



Nexteumet 



Pij:rre Socks. 



Arexes. 

HIS MARK 



HiS MARK' 





ORONO CENTENNIAL. 155 

Preble, and the appointment of Jonathan Lowder. 
It is evidently in Lowder's hand-writing. The truck- 
master was a government agent to furnish the Indians 
with supplies at their cost, and receive their furs in 
exchange. The " Forbes House," a little south of 
the Penjajawock stream, now destroyed, was the 
truck-house. It was the first frame house in Bangor. 
The letter stated, as reasons for Preble's removal, 
that he delayed furnishing the Indians with supplies, 
and they got drunk and did not carry the supplies 
to the Indians when they did get them ; that Preble 
lay abed until ten o'clock, and if they spoke to him 
to trade with them he went away a whole day at a 
time. 

Orono subscribed his mark, which was a facsimile 
of the seal ; Nextambawit's was that of a lynx ; Jo- 
sephsus's, that of a large silver brooch ; Alsonsa's, of 
two stone implements crossed ; Nexteumet's, of a ter- 
rapin ; Pierre Sock's, of Pomola, perhaps [the spirit 
of Katahdin] ; Arexes's, of, it may be, Majahundi 
[the devil]. I have these facsimiles in my hand. I 
believe the letter was not effective to secure the 
change of truck-master. 



156 ORONO CENTENNIAL. 

Your orator has related some anecdotes of notable 
characters. lie has one of Van Meter. Here is 
another of that sable citizen, which was told me re- 
cently by a former fellow-citizen of yours, now an 
eminent Judge of the Supreme Court. 

Van Meter, as well as Antoine, had done service 
in the cause of his country against Great Britain, but 
in the war of 1812. He was taken in a privateer 
and thrown into Dartmoor prison. He was liberated, 
however, and several years after the war was over 
found his way to Penobscot. He first made his ap- 
pearance in Hampden, and being, or pretending to 
be, a good Baptist, made the acquaintance of the 
eminent Baptist clergyman and educator, Rev. Otis 
Briggs, and of him purchased a cow, for which he 
gave him his note for some $40 or $50. With this 
acquisition he made his way to that romantic part of 
your town called "Hogtown," and settled in the 
neighborhood of the celebrated high old aromatic 
family of Dudley, with bright prospects of rural 
felicity. 

Elder Briggs had lost sight of his debtor for years, 
but at length, being in charge of a school in Orono, 



ORONO CENTENNIAL. 157 

he learned that the circumstances of Van Meter were 
such that he could collect his debt. Unfortunately 
his note was outlawed. A new oral promise, how- 
ever, would at that time revive the note, and this 
the elder undertook to get. Meeting the old man 
in a tavern, one day, he called his attention to the 
note. 

" What note, elder ? " he said, musingly. 

" You recollect ; the note you gave me for the cow." 

" Ah, yes, 'pears to me I did give you a note once." 

"Won't you pay it?" 

Van Meter reflected a moment, then arose and 
went to the window, from which, at a long distance, 
was visible a grave-yard. 

" Elder," said he, " won't you step here ? " 

The elder stepped there. 

" Elder, you see them grave-stones ? " 

"Yes." 

" Well, when they speak I will ! " 

James Dudley, the head of the distinguished house 
of that name, was the only one of the family, I be- 
lieve, who had a title of distinction. He early 
acquired the prefix of " Jumping " — " Jumping Dud- 



158 OBONO CENTENNIAL. 

ley," and he earned it. He was one of the " Kings 
of the Raft " in his younger days. At one time he 
had run a raft to Bangor, and, being the lucky owner 
of a four-pence ha'-penny, which he had found, he 
landed, and, without making his raft fast, ran into a 
shop to get " something warming." While swallow- 
ing the beverage, he was told that his raft was adrift, 
and seeing it had made off about twenty feet, he 
gathered his strength, ran to the water and made a 
leap towards it, but finding on the way that he might 
not fetch, he made a new spring, and, to the astonish- 
ment of everybody, planted his feet firmly upon the 
raft ! That is the way he earned his title, and often 
and again, thereafter, his ears were regaled in the 
street by the boys with the refrain — 

" Jumping up, O, Dudley, O, 
Found a fo'-pence ha'-penny, O, 

Turn'd about 

And spent it out, 
Jumping up, O, Dudley, O." 



ORONO CENTENNIAL. 159 



The exercises were then closed (at 11 : 50 p. m.), 
by the audience singing the following song, written 
for the occasion : 



THE OLD CHIEFS. 



BY REV. HENRY C. LEONARD. 



Tune — Auld Lang Syne. 



"We sing the chiefs of auld lang syne: 

Madockawando grave — 
The Tarratine in Philip's time; 

Megone, the fiend and knave; 
Wenamuett with kingly face; — 

All braves who bent the bow 
In autumn's hunt or winter's chase; 

But most, great Orono. 

Madockawando's royal hand, 

In nature's temple green, 
His squaw-child gave in marriage-band 

To lone and proud Castine. 
But from the mountains to the sea, 

Where gleams Penobscot's flow, 
Best praised the white-born chief shall be, 

The blue-eyed Orono. 



160 ORONO CENTENNIAL. 

In modern days of Atteon, 

Or Neptune's later reign, 
No tales are told of brave deeds done, 

Or sung in noble strain. 
Our thoughts are turned to other days, 

The days of strife and woe, 
Believed by calm, pacific ways 

Of pale-faced Orono. 

We sing the chief, the grand old chief, 

The chief of auld lang syne, 
Whose years of rule on memory's leaf 

Are years of bloodless line. 
We sing the chief, the grand old chief, 

The chief of long ago, — 
The corn still sound in memory's sheaf,- 

The hisrh-browed Orono. 



APPENDIX. 



TOWN OFFICERS OF 0E0NO. 



1800. 
Moderator, Andrew Webster. 

Town Clerk, Allen Bliss. 
Selectmen, &c, Richard Winslow. 
Moses Averill. 
John Read. 
Treasurer, Andrew Webster. 

No School Committee. 



1807. 
Moderator, Andrew Webster. 

Clerk, Allen Bliss. 

Selectmen, &c, Daniel Greeley. 

Samuel White. 

Richard Webster. 
Treasurer, Andrew Webster. 

S. S. Committee, Richard Winslow. 

John Bennoch. 

Joshua Fall. 



Moderator, 
Clerk, 
Selectmen, &c 



Treasurer, 
S. S. Com., 



1808. 

George Read. 

Moses Averill. 
, Daniel Greeley. 

Samuel White. 

Richard Webster. 

Richard Winslow. 
John Bennoch. 
Daniel J. Odel. 



1809. 
Moderator, Ebenezcr Webster. 

Clerk, Moses Averill. 

Selectmen, &c, Samuel White. 
Moses Averill. 
Abr'm Turtellottc. 
11 



Treasurer, 
S. S. Com., 



John McPhetrcs. 
John Bennoch. 
Daniel J. Odel. 
Jackson Davis. 



1810. 
Moderator, John Freesc. 

Clerk, Moses Averill. 

Selectmen, &c, Abr'm Turtellotte. 

Moses Averill. 

Jackson Davis. 
Treasurer, John Bennoch. 

S. S. Com., John Bennoch. 

Daniel J. Odel. 

Jackson Davis. 



Moderator, 
Clerk, 
Selectmen, &c. 



Treasurer, 
S. S. Com., 



Moderator, 

Clerk, 

Selectmen, 



Treasurer, 
S. S. Com., 



1811. 

Omitted in record. 

Moses Averill. 
, Moses Averill. 

Jackson Davis. 

Retire W. Freese. 

John Bennoch. 

Jackson Davis. 

John Bennoch. 

Moses Averill. 

1812. 

John Bennoch. 
Moses Averill. 
Moses Averill. 
Jackson Davis. 
Retire W. Freese. 
John Bennoch. 
John Bennoch. 
Moses Averill. 
Jackson Davis. 



162 



APPENDIX. 



Moderator, 

Clerk, 

Selectmen, 



Treasurer, 
S. S. Com., 



1813. 

Jackson Davis. 
Moses Averill. 
Moses Averill. 
John Bennoch. 
"Win. Colburn, jr. 
John Bennoch. 
John Bennoch. 
Moses Averill. 
Wm. Colburn, jr. 
Ebenezer Webster. 



1814. 
Moderator, Jackson Davis. 

Clerk, Moses Averill. 

Selectmen, &c, Moses Averill. 
John Bennoch. 



Treasurer, 
S. S. Com., 



Moderator. 

Clerk, 

Selectmen, 



Treasurer, 
S. S. Com., 



Moderator, 

Clerk, 

Selectmen. 



Treasurer, 
S. S. Com., 



Wm. Colburn, jr. 
John Bennoch, 
John Bennoch. 
William Colburn. 
Samuel White. 

1815. 

Jackson Davis. 
Moses Averill. 
Moses Averill. 
John Bennoch. 
Samuel White. 
John Bennoch. 
Moses Averill. 
John Bennoch. 
Samuel White. 

1816. 

Jackson Davis. 
AVm. Colburn, jr. 
John Bennoch. 
Wm. Colburn, jr. 
Ebenezer Webster. 
John Bennoch. 
John Bennoch. 
Jackson Davis. 
Wm. Colburn, jr. 



1817. 
Moderator, Jackson Davis. 

Clerk, Wm. Colburn, jr. 

Selectmen, &c, John Bennoch. 

Wm. Colburn, jr. 

Ebenezer Webster. 
Treasurer, John Bennoch. 

S. S. Com., "The present selectmen." 



Moderator, 

Clerk, 

Selectmen, 



Treasurer, 
S. S. Com., 



Moderator, 

Clerk, 

Selectmen, 



Treasurer, 
S. S. Com., 



Moderator. 

Clerk, 

Selectmen, 



Treasurer, 
S. S. Com.. 



Moderator, 

Clerk, 

Selectmen, 



Treasurer, 
S. S. Com., 



Moderator, 

Clerk, 

Selectmen, 



Treasurer, 
S. S. Com., 



1818. 

John Bennoch. 
Wm. Colburn, jr. 
Wm. Colburn, jr. 
Ebenezer Webster. 
Samuel White. 
John Bennoch. 
John Bennoch. 
Ebenezer Webster. 
Moses Averill. 

1819. 
Jackson Davis. 
Wm. Colburn, jr. 
Wm. Colburn, jr. 
Moses Averill. 
Ard Godfrey. 
John Bennoch. 
Jackson Davis. 
John Bennoch. 
Moses Averill. 

1S20. 

Jackson Davis. 
Wm. Colburn, jr. 
Wm. Colburn, jr. 
Moses Averill. 
Ard Godfrey. 
John Bennoch. 
John Bennoch. 
Moses Averill. 
Jackson Davis. 

1821. 

John Bennoch. 
Wm. Colburn, jr. 
Wm. Colburn, jr. 
Moses Averill. 
Ard Godfrey. 
John Bennoch. 
Jackson Davis. 
John Bennoch. 
Moses Averill. 

1822. 

John Bennoch. 
Wm. Colburn, jr. 
Wm. Colburn, jr. 
Moses Averill. 
Samuel White. 
John Bennoch. 
John Bennoch. 
Moses Averill. 
Rich'd H. Bartlctt. 



APPENDIX. 



163 



Moderator, 

Clerk, 

Selectmen, 



Treasurer, 
S. S. Cora., 



Moderator, 

Clerk, 

Selectmen, 



Treasurer, 
S. S. Com., 



Moderator, 

Clerk, 

Selectmen. 



Treasurer, 
S. S. Com., 



Moderator, 

Clerk, 

Selectmen, 



Treasurer, 
S. S. Com., 



Moderator, 

Clerk, 

Selectmen, 



Treasurer, 



1S23. 

John Bennoch. 
Wm. Colburn, jr. 
Wm. Colburn, jr. 
Moses Aver ill. 
Samuel White. 
John Bennock. 
Moses Averill. 
John Bennoch. 
Edward French. 

1824. 

Budd Parsons. 
Wm. Colburn, jr. 
Samuel White. 
Daniel Davis. 
John Bennoch. 
Samuel White. 
John Bennoch. 
Ebenezer Webster. 
Samuel Silsby. 

1825. 

Samuel Silsby. 
Moses Averill. 
Thomas Bartlett. 
Moses Averill. 
Elijah Webster. 
Ard Godfrey. 
Samuel Silsby. 
Thomas Bartlett 
John Bennoch. 

1820. 
John Read. 
Moses Averill. 
Thomas Bartlett. 
Elijah Webster. 
William Neal. 
Ard Godfrey. 
Rich'd H. Bartlett, 
John Bennoch, jr. 
Moses Averill. 

1827. 

George Reed. 
John Bennoch, jr. 
Thomas Bartlett. 
William Neal. 
Elijah Webster. 
Ard Godfrey. 



S. S. Com., 



Moderator, 

Clerk, 

Selectmen, 



Treasurer, 
S. S. Com., 



Moderator, 

Clerk, 

Selectmen, 



Treasurer, 
S. S. Com., 



Moderator, 

Clerk, 

Selectmen, 



Treasurer, 
S. S. Com., 



Moderator, 

Clerk, 

Selectmen, 



Treasurer, 
S. S. Com., 



David Agry. 
Jonas Cutting. 
John Stevens. 
Daniel J. Perley. 

1828. 

Jonas Cutting. 
John Bennoch, jr. 
Thomas Bartlett. 
Rev. Wm. Marsh. 
Moses Averill. 
Ard Godfrey. 
Jonas Cutting. 
David Agry. 
Geo. B. Moody. 

1829. 

Wm. C. Fillebrown. 
John Bennoch, jr. 
Wm. Colburn, jr. 
Thomas Bartlett. 
Jonas Cutting. 
Ard Godfrey. 
Jonas Cutting. 
R. H. Bartlett. 
Geo. B. Moody. 
Samuel Kidder. 

1830. 
Geo. B. Moody. 
John Bennoch, jr. 
Wm. Colburn, jr. 
Thomas Bartlett. 
Jonas Cutting. 
Ard Godfrey. 
Jonas Cutting. 
Jeremiah Perley. 
Geo. B. Moody. 
Daniel McRuer. 

1831. 

Wm. C. Fillebrown. 
John Bennoch, jr. 
Wm. Colburn, jr. 
Thomas Bartlett. 
Jonas Cutting. 
Aid Godfrey. 
Jonas Cutting. 
Daniel McRuer. 
[Nathaniel Treat. 
Geo. B. Moody. 
J. Perley. 



164 



APPENDIX. 



Moderator, 

Clerk, 

Selectmen, 



Treasurer, 
S. S. Com., 



Moderator, 

Clerk, 

Selectmen, 



Treasurer, 
S. S. Com., 



Moderator, 

Clerk, 

Selectmen, 



Treasurer, 
S. S. Com., 



Moderator, 

Clerk, 

Selectmen, 



Treasurer, 
S. S. Com., 



Moderator, 

Clerk, 

Selectmen, 



1832. 

Wm. C. Fillebrown. 
John Bennock, jr. 
Thomas Bartlett. 
Nathaniel Treat. 
John Bennoch, jr. 
Ard Godfrey. 
Geo. B. Moody. 
Daniel McRuer. 
Josiah Fisher. 

1833. 

Jeremiah Perley. 
John Bennoch, jr. 
Nathaniel Treat. 
John Bennoch, jr. 
Moses Averill. 
Ard Godfrey. 
J. Fisher. 
Samuel Cony. 
Jeremiah Perley. 

1S34. 

Nathaniel Treat. 
John Bennoch, jr. 
John Bennoch, jr. 
Henry Richardson. 
Moses Averill. 
Wm. Colburn, jr. 
J. Fisher. 
Samuel Cony. 
Nathan H. Allen. 

1835. 

Ebenezer Webster. 
John Bennoch, jr. 
Ira Wadleigh. 
Levi Hamblen. 
Edward Kimball. 
Cony Foster. 
J. Fisher. 
J. C. Love joy. 
Nathaniel Wilson. 
Nathan H. Allen. 
Niran Bates. 

1836. 

Geo. W. Ingersoll. 
Wm. C. Fillebrown. 
Abial W. Kennedy. 
Henry Richardson. 
Benjamin Shaw. 



Treasurer, Cony Foster. 

S. S. Com., J. C. Lovejoy. 

G. W. Ingersoll. 

Charles Currier. 

I. Washburn, jr. 

Cony Foster. 

1837. 
Moderator, Geo. W. Ingersoll. 

Clerk, Levi Hamblen. 

Selectmen, Wm. T. Milliard. 

T. J. Washburn. 

John Hutchins, jr. 
Treasurer, James Stinson. 

S. S. Com., Geo. W. Ingersoll. 

Robert W. Wood. 

Reland Tinckham. 

Nathaniel Wilson. 

Samuel Cony, jr. 

1838. 
Moderator, Ebenezer Webster. 

Clerk, Wm. C. Fillebrown. 

Selectmen, &c, Francis Carr. 

Alex. Gordon. 

John Hutchins, jr. 

Jefferson Sinclair. 

Geo. O. Braslow. 
Treasurer, John Bennoch, jr. 

S. S. Com., None appear on records. 



Moderator, 

Clerk, 

Selectmen, 



Treasurer, 
S. S. Com.. 



Moderator, 

Clerk, 

Selectmen, 



Treasurer, 
S. S. Com., 



1839. 

I. Washburn, jr. 
Fred. A. Fuller. 
Nathaniel Treat. 
Abial W. Kennedy. 
Timothy Mayo. 
Wm. Colburn, jr. 
Moses Springer. 
Wm. H. Allen. 
Abial W. Kennedy. 
Niran Bates. 

1840. 

Wm. C. Fillebrown. 
E. P. Butler. 
Nathaniel Treat. 
Timothy Mayo. 
Cony Foster. 
Wm. Colburn, jr. 
I. Washburn, jr. 
Wm. H. Allen. 
Benj. M. Freese. 



APPENDIX. 



165 



Moderator, 

Clerk, 

Selectmen, 



Treasurer, 
S. S. Com., 



Moderator, 

Clerk, 

Selectmen, 



Treasurer, 
S. S. Com., 



Moderator, 

Clerk, 

Selectmen, 



Treasurer, 
S. S. Com., 



Moderator, 

Clerk, 

Selectmen, 



Treasurer, 
S. S. Com., 



Moderator, 

Clerk, 

Selectmen, 



1841. 

Wm. C. Fillebrown. 

E. P. Butler. 
Cony Foster. 
Fred. A. Fuller. 
Winthrop Allen. 
Wm. Colburn, jr. 
Benj. M. Freese. 
Nathan Weston, jr. 

F. A. Fuller. 

1842. 

I. Washburn, jr. 
E. P. Butler. 
Cony Foster. 
Nathaniel Wilson. 
A. W. Weymouth. 
Wm. Colburn, jr. 
Nathaniel Wilson. 
W. H. Folsom. 
Nathan Weston, jr. 

1843. 

I. Washburn, jr. 
Levi K. Weeks. 
Cony Foster. 
Nathaniel Wilson. 
A. W. Weymouth. 
Wm. Colburn, jr. 
Nathaniel Wilson. 
L. P. Band. 
J. F. Eveleth. 

1844. 

Nathan Weston, jr. 
Levi K. Weeks. 
John Bennoch. 
Daniel White. 
Timothy Mayo. 
E. P. Butler. 
L. P. Band. 
W. H. Allen. 
Charles Buffum. 

1845. 

Cony Foster. 
Levi B. Weeks. 
William Marsh. 
E. P. Butler. 
Joseph Graves. 



Treasurer, 
S. S. Com., 



Moderator, 

Clerk, 

Selectmen, 



Treasurer, 
S. S. Com., 



Moderator, 

Clerk, 

Selectmen, 



Treasurer, 
S. S. Com., 



Moderator, 

Clerk, 

Selectmen, 



Treasurer, 
S. S. Com., 



Moderator, 

Clerk, 

Selectmen, 



Treasurer, 
S. S. Com., 



William H. Allen. 
L. P. Band. 
J. F. Eveleth. 
Nathan H. Allen. 



1840. 

Nathaniel Wilson. 
Levi B. Weeks. 
Joseph Graves. 
A. W. Weymouth. 
Cony Foster. 
E. P. Butler. 
Nathan H. Allen. 
Jno. A. Perry. 
Benj. M. Freese. 



1847. 

Albert G. Brown. 
Levi R. Weeks. 
E. P. Butler. 
Eben'r Webster, jr. 
Israel Brown. 
E. P. Butler. 
Jno. A. Perry. 
N. H. Allen. 
Charles Buffmn. 



1848. 

I. Washburn, jr. 
Levi B. Weeks. 
John Libby. 
Joseph Graves. 
J. F. Eveleth. 
E. P. Butler. 
Henry C. Leonard. 
Nathaniel Wilson. 
I. Washburn, jr. 

1849. 

Nathaniel Treat. 
L. K. Weeks. 
Nathaniel Treat. 
Gideon Mayo. 
J. F. Eveleth. 
E. P. Butler. 
I. Washburn, jr. 
H. C. Leonard. 
Chas. Alexander. 



166 



APPENDIX. 



Moderator, 

Clerk, 

Selectmen, 



Treasurer, 
S. S. Com., 



Moderator, 

Clerk, 

Selectmen, 



Treasurer, 
S. S. Com., 



Moderator, 

Clerk, 

Selectmen, 



Treasurer, 
S. S. Com., 



Moderator, 

Clerk, 

Selectmen, 



Treasurer, 
S. S. Com., 



Moderator, 

Clerk, 

Selectmen. 



Treasurer, 



1850. 

John Libbey. 
L. B. Weeks. 
Nathaniel Treat. 
E. P. Butler. 
W. H. Folsom. 
E. P. Butler. 
H. C. Leonard. 
Nathan H. Allen. 
W. H. Folsom. 

1851. 

John Libbey. 
L. E. Weeks. 
E. P. Butler. 
Charles Buffum. 
E. E. Southard. 
E. P. Butler. 
Cony Foster. 
Chas. Alexander. 
Nathan Weston, jr. 

1852. 

Nathan Weston, jr. 
L. E. Weeks. 
E. E. Southard. 
Eben'r Webster, jr. 
Wyatt H. Folsom. 
John Bicker. 
L. J. Hoadley. 
W. II. Allen. 
Wyatt II. Folsom. 

1853. 

Cony Foster. 
L. E. Weeks. 
E. E. Southard. 
Thomas McMillan. 
Samuel Moor. 
E. P. Butler. 
Nathaniel Wilson. 
Cony Foster. 
N. H. Allen. 

1854. 

Nathaniel Wilson. 
L. E. Weeks. 
Hiram Joy. 
Levi Dennett. 
Samuel W. Freese. 
E. P. Butler. 



S. S. Com., 



Moderator, 

Clerk, 

Selectmen, 



Treasurer, 
S. S. Com., 



Moderator, 

Clerk, 

Selectmen, 



Treasurer, 
S. S. Com., 



Moderator, 
Clerk, 
Treasurer, 
Selectmen, 



S. S. Com., 



Moderator, 
Clerk, 
Treasurer, 
Selectmen, 



S. S. Com., 



Moderator, 
Clerk, 
Treasurer, 
Selectmen, 



S.S. Com., 



Samuel Libbey. 
Chas. Alexander. 
H. C. Leonard. 

1855. 

Nathan H. Allen. 
L. E. Weeks. 
Cony Foster. 
Nathaniel Treat. 
William Lunt. 
E.P.Butler. 
Nathan H. Allen. 
Wm. H. Allen. 
Charles Buffum. 

1856. 

Nathaniel Wilson. 
Perez G. Colburn. 
Nathaniel Treat. 
W. E. Jones. 
I. F. Spaulding. 
Perez G. Colburn. 
Nathaniel Wilson. 
E. A. Helmershausen. 
F. S. Holmes. 

1857. 

John Libbey. 
P. G. Colburn. 
E. P. Butler. 
J. B. Chase. 
J. S. Bennoch. 
Wm. M. Eollins. 
W. H. Folsom, 3 yrs. 
Wm.H. Allen, lyr. 

1858. 

Nathaniel Wilson. 
P. G. Colburn. 
E. P. Butler. 
J. B. Chase. 
Josiah S. Bennoch. 
Wm. M. Eollins. 
Wm.H. Allen, 3 yrs. 

1859. 

Nathaniel Wilson. 
P. G. Colburn. 
E. P. Butler. 
J. S. Bennoch. 
William Lunt. 
Sherlock Parsons. 
Nathaniel Wilson. 



APPENDIX. 



167 



Moderator, 
Clerk, 
Treasurer, 
Selectmen, 



S. S. Com. 



Moderator, 
Clerk, 
Treasurer, 
Selectmen, 



S. S. Com. 



Moderator, 
Clerk, 
Treasurer, 
Selectmen, 



S. S. Com. 



Moderator, 
Clerk, 
Treasurer, 
Selectmen, 



S. S. Com., 



Moderator, 
Clerk, 
Treasurer, 
Selectmen, 



S. S. Com., 



1360. 

Nathaniel Wilson. 
P. G. Colburn. 
E. P. Butler. 
E. P. Butler. 
J. S. Hamilton. 
S. Parsons. 
Anson Allen, 3 yrs. 



1861. 

Charles Buffum. 
P. G. Colburn. 

E. P. Butler. 
J. S. Bennoch. 
C. F. Ordway. 

F. Hamblin. 

J. H. Thompson. 



Moderator, 
Clerk. 
Treasurer, 
Selectmen, 



S. S. Com., 



Moderator, 
Clerk, 
Treasurer, 
Selectmen, 



S. S. Com., 



1802. 

Cony Foster. 
P. G. Colburn. Moderator, 

E. P. Butler. Clerk, 
J. S. Bennoch. Treasurer, 

F. Hamblin. Selectmen, 
N. Frost. 

F. Hamblin, 3 yrs. 

W. H. Folsom, 2 yrs. g t g. Com., 



1863. 

Cony Foster. 
P. G. Colburn. 
E. P. Butler. 
J. S. Bennoch. 
Nathan Frost. 
Cony Foster. 
L. Bastow. 



1804. 

Cony Foster. 
P. G. Colburn. 
E. P. Butler. 
J. S. Bennoch. 
Cony Foster. 
Nathan Frost. 
Chas. Buffum, 3 yrs. 
Sam'l Libbey, 2 yrs. 
Sam'l White, 1 yr. 



Moderator, 

Clerk, 

Selectmen, 



Treasurer, 
S. S. Com., 



Moderator, 

Clerk, 

Selectmen, 



Treasurer, 
S. S. Com., 



1805. 

John Libbey. 
P. G. Colburn. 
E. P. Butler. 
J. S. Bennoch. 
C. M. Gould. 
Jesse Snow. 
E. P. Butler, 3 yrs. 



1866. 

Samuel Libbey. 
P. G. Colburn. 
E. P. Butler. 
E. R. Southard. 
John Libby. 
P. G. Colburn. 
Sam'l Libbey, 3 yrs. 



1807. 

Samuel Libbey. 
P. G. Colburn. 
E. P. Butler. 
E. R. Southard. 
John Libbey. 
P. G. Colburn. 
Nathaniel Wilson. 



1808. 

Charles Buffum. 
N. G. Gould. 
John Libbey. 
E. F. Ring. 
P. M. Fisher. 
E. P. Butler. 
Charles Buffum. 



1SG9. 

Charles Buffum. 
P. G. Colburn. 
P. G. Colburn. 
Cony Foster. 
James H. Emery. 
E. P. Butler. 
Samuel Libbey. 



168 



APPENDIX. 





1870. 


Selectmen, 


A. G. Ring. 


Moderator, 


Samuel Libbey. 




J. T. Holmes. 


Clerk, 


P. G. Colburn. 




Albert White. 


Selectmen, 


J. S. Hamilton. 


Treasurer, 


E. P. Butler. 




P. G. Colburn. 


S. S. Com., 


A. G. Ring. 




A. G. Ring. 






Treasurer, 


E. P. Butler. 






S. S. Com., 


E. N. Mayo. 




1873. 






Moderator, 


J. W. Atwell. 






Clerk, 


E. P. Butler. 






Selectmen, 


A. G. Ring. 




1871. 




R. J. Hamilton. 


Moderator, 


Samuel Libbey. 




Nathan Frost. 


Clerk, 


Albert White. 


Treasurer, 


E. P. Butler. 


Selectmen, 


A. G. Ring. 
Jehial T. Holmes. 
Cony Foster. 


S. S. Com., 


Samuel Libbey. 


Treasurer, 


E. P. Butler. 






S. S. Com., 


Chas. W. Snow. 




1874. 






Moderator, 


John W. Atwell. 






Clerk, 


E. P. Butler. 






Selectmen, 


A. G. Ring. 

R. J. Hamilton. 




1872. 




Nathan Frost. 


Moderator, 


J. W. Atwell. 


Treasurer, 


E. P. Butler. 


Clerk, 


Albert White. 


S. S. Com., 


Elijah W. Wyman 







IP 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



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